News Briefs

A judge in California ruled on Aug. 26 that a group of doctors could continue a court challenge to the state’s new assisted-suicide law but that the law would not be put on hold while they did so. • While hailing a peace agreement that ended 50 years of civil conflict in Colombia, Pope Francis on Aug. 31 declined an invitation to name a Vatican representative to choose judges for "peace tribunals” that will help implement it. • Oguzhan Akdin, imprisoned for killing an Italian priest in 2006, was among thousands of inmates released from Turkish prisons to make room for those arrested in connection with the coup attempt in July.• Continuing his dialogue with technology leaders, Pope Francis met with the founder and C.E.O. of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, on Aug. 29. • Following the beheading of a teenage hostage on Aug. 24, Bishop Martin Jumoad of Isabela City in the Province of Basilan, Philippines, backed a strong military response, arguing that Abu Sayyaf militants “must be destroyed.” • Allowing people to drink unsafe water or have no access to dependable water sources is an international shame, Cardinal Peter Turkson told religious leaders at an interfaith meeting on Aug. 29 in Stockholm.