• Man With Extensive Criminal Record Charged In St. Louis Church Burnings: 'The Church Has Prevailed'

  A 35-year-old man with an extensive criminal record was charged on Friday in connection with a string of suspected arson fires at St. Louis-area churches, police said.

  

• Pope Still Faces Stiff Resistance To Reform Vatican, Controversial New Books Claim

  Two new books by Italian journalists depict a Vatican plagued by mismanagement, greed, cronyism and corruption and where Pope Francis still faces stiff resistance from the old guard to his reform agenda.

  

• In a First since 1946, Taiwan and China to Hold Historic Meeting in Singapore on Saturday

  The presidents of Taiwan and China will meet in Singapore on Saturday to discuss cross-strait issues, Taiwan's presidential office said, in the first such meeting of leaders from the two sides since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949.

  

• ISIS Militants Stage Rare Attack in Kurdish-Held Territory In Iraq

  Islamist militants launched a rare attack inside Kurdish-held territory in northern Iraq on Tuesday, briefly taking over a local government compound near several producing oil fields.

  

• Men Who Drink Two or More Glasses of Soda a Day Have Greater Risk of Heart Failure, Study Shows

  Men who drink two or more glasses of soda or other sweetened drinks a day may have a greater risk of heart failure, a Swedish study suggests.