The exile government that was built by the Dalai Lama to preserve Tibetans’ cultural identity will be put to the test by his eventual succession.

The long absence of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, from public life had fueled speculation about his health and threats to his life.

First, France cleaned the polluted river so that Olympians could swim there. Now, a year later, it is opening three sites for locals to plunge in.

Members of the government are poised to decide whether to proceed with negotiations after Hamas said it had responded positively to the latest truce proposal.

The alliance of emerging economies hopes to offer a counterweight to the United States and other Western powers. But military strikes on Iran are testing its unity.

It is more secure from threats than at any time since its founding. But the war in Gaza, and attacks on Iran and Lebanon, have undercut Israel’s standing among the world’s democracies.

Local leaders denounced the episodes, which both took place on Friday evening: arson at a synagogue and a disturbance at an Israeli eatery.

The decision means that the group called Palestine Action will be banned as a terrorist organization in Britain while its full legal challenge to the ban plays out.