Recently in International News Category

An escaped psychiatric patient attacked a rabbi and his son with a knife in Paris Tuesday, authorities told Le Monde.

The rabbi, in his late forties, required surgery for a neck injury, while his son, 18, sustained lesser injuries, the Associated Press reported.

The Associated Press reported the attacker was detained after a chase through a synagogue near Paris' Opera Garnier and was taken into police custody.

The attacker escaped last week from a psychiatric hospital near Lyon, Le Monde reported.

An earthquake in the Sichuan Province of China killed at least 156 people and injured more than 5,500 others Saturday morning, according to authorities, The Guardian reported.

At least 156 people were killed, according to the China Earthquake Administration, The Guardian reported.

Chinese authorities said the earthquake was magnitude 7.0, the Los Angeles Times reported, while the U.S. Geological Survey reported 6.6

The Guardian reported the earthquake is believed to have taken place on the same fault as the 2008 earthquake that killed 70,000 people and left 18,000 missing.

The Los Angeles Times reported the epicenter of the earthquake was 80 miles southwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu, near the city of Ya'an. The city's population was 1.5 million.

According to the government of Ya'an, more than 5,500 people were injured, The Guardian reported.

A man killed 13 people in a shooting rampage in Serbia on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

According to BBC News, the gunman killed six men, six women and a 2-year old boy in Velika Ivanca, a village about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of the Belgrade.

Police said there is no known motive, according to the Associated Press.

After the shootings between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., the 60-year-old suspect, Ljubisa Bogdanovice, turned his gun on himself and his wife. Both are in grave condition at a hospital in Belgrade, the Associated Press reported.

The victims included Bogdanovice's mother, his son, a 2-year-old cousin and ten neighbors, the Associated Press reported.

"Most of the victims were shot while they were asleep," Serbian police chief Milorad Veliovic told the Associated Press.

BBC News reported Veljovic said Bogdanovice was "from a peaceful family and had no criminal record."

His brother Radmilo told the Associated Press that Bogdanovice had served in the army during Croatia's 1991-95 war for independence, and fought during one the bloodiest sieges.

BBC News reported a similar Serbian shooting occurred in 2007, when a 39-year-old man killed nine people and injured two others.

A residential building near Mumbai, India collapsed Thursday evening, killing at least 47 people and injuring 70 others, authorities told the Associated Press Friday.

The eight-story building was being constructed illegally on forest land in the suburb of Thane, the Associated Press reported.

One witness told BBC News, "The building collapsed like a pack of cards within three to four seconds."

BBC News reported police said the cause of the collapse is not clear, but it appeared to be caused by the use of substandard building material.

The Associated Press reported 17 children were among the dead.

Rescue workers are searching for people who might be trapped inside, police commissioner K.P. Raghuvanshi told the Associated Press Friday.

Builders allowed residents to move in before construction was complete, BBC News reported.

The Associated Press reported the first four floors of the building were completed and had occupants, police said. Three more floors were completed, and workers were adding to the eighth when it collapsed.

Building collapses are common in India, the Associated Press reported, because of illegal building practices and high demand for housing.

Inadequate supervision allows builders to use poor quality supplies and add unauthorized floors, the Associated Press reported.

The Associated Press reported nearly 70 people were killed in a residential building collapse in New Delhi in November, 2010.

A Brazilian doctor, who was charged last month with killing seven terminally ill patients in a Brazilian hospital, was released on bail last week, according to the Associated Press.

A press officer for Brazil's Health Ministry said Virginia Helena Soares de Souza and a medical team are suspected of injecting the patients with "drug cocktails" and tampering with respirators, the Associated Press reported.

Brazil's Health Ministry is reviewing other patient records for possible links to de Souza and her medical team, BBC News reported.

BBC News reported the health ministry's chief investigator Dr. Mario Lobato said nearly 300 more deaths are being studied, and more than 20 were deemed suspicious.

BBC News reported de Souza was charged on seven counts of first-degree murder. Three doctors, three nurses and physiotherapist suspected of following de Souza's orders were charged with murder.

White smoke from the Sistine Chapel Wednesday afternoon signified a decision for the new pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, the New York Times reported.

Bergoglio, the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, is the first South American pope, the New York Times reported.

The New York Times reported Bergoglio, 76, had been the archbishop of Buenos Aires.

He is the first pope to choose the name Francis as well as the first Jesuit pope, CBS Minnesota reported.

CBS Minnesota reported he chose the name because St. Francis was committed to helping those in poverty and living a simple life.

Bergoglio has been described as humble, CBS Minnesota reported. In Buenos Aires, he rode city buses, prepared his own meals and lived in a small apartment.

Pope Francis follows former Pope Benedict XVI, who ended his eight-year papacy last month, becoming the first pontiff in 598 to resign, the New York Times reported.

Hundreds of thousands of Hugo Chavez's supporters carried his coffin through Caracas, Venezuela's streets Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela died of cancer Tuesday, the New York Times reported.

The Associated Press reported many Venezuelans dressed in red, the color of Chavez's socialist party, to remember their leader, known as "our commander."

Chavez's coffin was draped in the Venezuelan flag as it passed over the supporters before making its way to a military academy in the capital, the Associated Press reported.

The Associated Press reported, "At the academy, Chavez's family and close advisors, as well as the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay, attended a funeral Mass before the president's open casket. Later, the public slowly filed past in a show of respect expected to go late into the night."

Chavez, 58, dominated Venezuela for 14 years, making the future of his socialist revolution uncertain, the New York Times reported.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro is Chavez's successor, the Associated Press reported.

Queen Elizabeth II of England was hospitalized Sunday for an apparent stomach infection, according to the Associated Press.

The 86-year-old monarch is being assessed for gastroentiritis at King Edward VII Hospital in London, BBC News reported.

All of the queen's engagements for this week have been cancelled or postponed, BBC News reported.

The Associated Press reports this is the first time the queen has been hospitalized in ten years.

Symptoms for gastroentiritis include vomiting and diarrhea, the Associated Press reported.

During Oscar Pistorius' bail hearing Wednesday, the investigating officer made an error in his court testimony when he said he found testosterone in the athlete's bedroom, CBS News reported.

Detective Warrant Officer Hilton Botha admitted he was not certain what the substance was, according to The Guardian.

Medupe Simasiku, the spokesman for South Africa's National Prosecution Agency, said it was too early to identify substance because it was still undergoing tests, The Associated Press reported.

Barry Roux, for the defence, said the substance a "herbal remedy," that is not a steroid and is not a banned substance, adding many athletes use it, The Guardian reported.

CBS News reported Pistorius was charged with the Valentine's Day premeditated murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his home in Pretoria, South Africa.

Pistorius denied the murder and said Tuesday that the shooting was accidental because he thought she was an intruder, The Associated Press reported.

Pope Benedict XVI holds his last Mass as pope in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, according to BBC News.

The pope's last Mass was an Ash Wednesday service, according to the Associated Press.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent in the Roman Catholic Church, according to BBC News.

BBC News reports the pope, 85, announced Monday he was going to retire later this month.

At the Mass, the pope said, "Thank you for the love and prayer with which you have accompanied me... Keep praying for me, for the Church and for the future pope," according to BBC News.

The pope received a standing ovation of applause and Italian schoolchildren sang him one of his favorite hymns, the Associated Press reports.

The Associated Press reports the Church will most likely have a new pope by March 31st, Easter Sunday.

Watch video of the pope's farewell here.