World News at a Glance

Pope Francis Delivers Plea for Peace in Easter Sunday Mass

Tens of thousands of worshippers from around the world thronged to a Mass in St. Peter’s Square in Rome on Easter Sunday, where Pope Francis called for peace in a world marked by conflict and challenged Catholics to “break out” of their routines and to let God in. He cited a need to end the “carnage” in “the beloved and long-suffering land of Syria;” urged “reconciliation” in the Middle East; pressed for “the fruits of dialogue” to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula; and voiced hope Venezuela would surmount "the political and humanitarian crises that grip it.”

Deadly Clashes in Kashmir Between Indian Army and Militants

An Indian army operation against militants fighting Indian rule in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley killed at least 12 militants Sunday, the largest one-day death toll of insurgents in recent years, officials in Kashmir said. At least three soldiers and four civilians also died, and about 70 other people were wounded in the army crackdown in the district of Shopian, according to Kashmir authorities. Army officials called the operation a major success. Kashmir — caught in a territorial dispute between the Hindu-majority India, which controls much of the territory, and the Muslim-majority Pakistan — has endured brutal conflict for decades.

Poisoned Door Handle Hints at High-Level Plot to Kill Spy, U.K. Officials Say

British officials investigating the poisoning of Sergei V. Skripal, a former Russian spy, believe it is likely that an assassin smeared a nerve agent on the door handle at his home on a quiet street in Salisbury. This operation is seen as so risky and sensitive that it is unlikely to have been undertaken without approval from the Kremlin, according to officials who have been briefed on the early findings of the inquiry. Skripal, who was freed in a spy swap with the United States in 2010, is still in critical condition and unresponsive, but his daughter, Yulia, is conscious.

England to Abolish Burial and Cremation Fees for Children

Parents in England will no longer be charged burial and cremation fees for children after Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the government would set up a fund to cover the charges. The announcement Saturday came after a campaign by an opposition Labour lawmaker, Carolyn Harris, who went into debt to bury her 8-year-old son, Martin, who died in a road accident in 1989. The prime minister’s office noted that about 4,350 children under the age of 18 died every year and that their families faced thousands of pounds in local authority fees for burial or cremation costs.

School Days Despite the Taliban, the Bribes and the Outdoor Lessons

Tribal elders in the southeastern district of Laja Mangal declared that families were subject to a $70 fine if they did not send their children to school. The decision gained attention across Afghanistan, at a time when 3.5 million children are unschooled, with 75 percent of them girls, according to UNICEF. The reasons vary, including continuing violence and too few female teachers in a country where many families will only let girls be taught by women. The Education Ministry says 1,000 of its 17,500 schools remained shut last year, largely because of raging violence, with south Afghanistan disproportionately affected.

After Gaza Clash, Israel and Palestinians Fight With Videos and Words

Days after the deadly flare-up along Israel’s border with Gaza, during which Israeli troops killed 15 Palestinians, a new war — of videos and strong statements — has erupted over what happened, and why. After what was the bloodiest day in Gaza since the war of 2014, Palestinians viewed the events as a legitimate protest that was met with disproportionate force by Israeli soldiers, while Israel said it acted judiciously to prevent a breach of its borders led by Hamas. The toll would have been higher, Israel said, if the protesters had managed to break through the security barrier.

Al-Shabab Says It Killed Ugandan Peacekeepers in Somalia

Islamist militants in Somalia carried out multiple coordinated attacks against African Union peacekeeping forces Sunday, and claimed to have killed at least 59 Ugandan soldiers. Al-Shabab, a Somali terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaida, claimed to have killed dozens of peacekeepers in the hourslong firefight, but the group is known to exaggerate figures. A spokesman for the Ugandan peacekeepers said four soldiers had been killed, and six wounded. He said soldiers in the peacekeeping mission, known as Amisom, had killed 30 militants. Amisom has steadily pushed al-Shabab out of major towns, but the group controls large sections of rural territory.

Onstage, South Korean K-Pop Stars. In the Balcony, Kim Jong Un, Clapping.

The appearance by North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, Sunday at a concert by South Korean musicians in Pyongyang was all the more unusual because his authoritarian government has been struggling to stave off what it sees as an infiltration of the South’s pop culture among his isolated people. But Kim shook the hands of members of South Korea’s most popular girl band, Red Velvet, which he and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, watched from a balcony. Kim reportedly pronounced the event, a political détente between the neighboring countries, as a “gift for Pyongyang citizens.”