French police have shot and killed a man armed with a knife and a metal bar who is suspected of having set fire to a synagogue in the Normandy city of Rouen. French police said officers were alerted early Friday morning that smoke was rising from the synagogue and came face to face with the man when they got there. The national police information service said the man surged toward officers with a knife and a metal bar and that an officer opened fire, fatally wounding the man. Rouen's mayor said the man is thought to have climbed onto a trash container and thrown “a sort of Molotov cocktail” inside the synagogue. Tensions and anger have grown in France over the Israel-Hamas war, and antisemitic acts have surged.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Friday radically reformed its process for evaluating alleged visions of the Virgin Mary, weeping statues and other seemingly supernatural phenomena, insisting on having the final say in whether the events are worthy of popular devotion.

A protester shouting “liars” has briefly interrupted a hearing at the United Nations’ top court as Israel was defending its military operation in Gaza. The session at the International Court of Justice was paused for less than a minute while security guards escorted a woman from the public gallery. The court in The Hague in the Netherlands was holding a third round of hearings on emergency measures requested by South Africa, which wants the court to order a cease-fire in Gaza. Israel told the court on Friday that South Africa’s case “makes a mockery of the heinous charge of genocide.” Israel says it “takes extraordinary measures in order to minimize the harm to civilians in Gaza.”