Moderates expected to prevail in election

Moderate mainstream parties were expected to triumph in Portugal's general election Sunday, after more radical alternatives failed to exploit public discontent over austerity measures.

Pope faces divisive issues at meeting with bishops

Pope Francis opened a divisive meeting of the world's bishops on family issues by forcefully asserting that marriage is an indissoluble bond between man and woman. But he says the church must "seek out and care for hurting couples with the balm of acceptance and mercy."

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Ten killed in college shooting

Armed with multiple guns, a 26-year-old man walked into a morning writing class at a community college in a rural Oregon town and opened fire, hitting some students with multiple gunshots. A witness said a teacher was struck in the head.

In a Lesbos cemetery, nameless refugees

Shrouded in white, the little girl lies on the ground in the paupers' section of Lesbos cemetery. Strangers attend her burial, and she will forever rest next to an unknown woman who died with her.

Putin holds first talks with West

Vladimir Putin entered talks Friday around Syria's fate after an intervention that ensured Russia's role as a major player no matter what the outcome.

India vows to cut carbon intensity in Paris pledge

As the last major economy to submit a target for a global climate pact, India is pledging to reduce the intensity of its carbon emissions and boost the share of electricity produced from sources other than fossil fuels to 40 percent by 2030.

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Palestine's shining moment at the UN

Palestinians in the West Bank celebrated President Mahmoud Abbas' United Nations General Assembly speech on Wednesday and the raising of their flag at UN headquarters for the first time.

Seals stranded in record numbers

Guadalupe fur seals, a threatened species that breed off Mexico and normally spend much of their time at sea, have washed up dead and dying in record numbers along the California coast this year, another apparent casualty of warming ocean temperatures.

Colleges seek to better integrate Chinese

The multitudes of Chinese students attending American universities are approaching college as less of a life experience and more as a transaction, educators worry, leading to measures to help them integrate - including broadcasting football games in Mandarin and giving them orientation before they even leave Asia.

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Russia on Thursday confirmed a second day of air strikes inside Syria. The strikes were coupled by intensive reconnaissance flights, sources told Xinhua, saying dozens of terrorists were killed during the strikes.