CUBA-POPE

HAVANA — Cuba announces that it is releasing 3,522 prisoners ahead of next week's visit by Pope Francis, the third time Cuba has granted inmates freedom before a papal trip.

COLOMBIA PLANE CRASH

BOGOTA, Colombia — A small plane assigned to the crew of a movie starring Tom Cruise crashes in Colombia, killing two people, including a Los Angeles-based film pilot, and seriously injuring a third, the country's civilian aviation authority says. 

CUBA-US

HAVANA — Cuban and U.S. diplomats formally launch the process of normalizing the relationship between the two countries, meeting to set the agenda for talks on topics ranging from environmental cooperation to compensation for American properties confiscated by Cuba.

UNITED NATIONS-IRAN-NUCLEAR

UNITED NATIONS — The head of the UN's nuclear test ban treaty organization says Iran should follow up on its historic nuclear deal with world powers by ratifying the treaty and assuring it will never conduct a nuclear test explosion.

PRESIDENTIAL RACE-PERRY

ST. LOUIS — Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry ends his second bid for the Republican presidential nomination, becoming the first major candidate of the 2016 campaign to give up on the White House.

BRAZIL-PETROBRAS

SAO PAULO — Brazil's Supreme Court says federal police have asked for its permission to question former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for possible involvement in the kickback scheme that has engulfed state-owned oil company Petrobras.

RIGHT TO DIE-CALIFORNIA

SACRAMENTO, California — California lawmakers give final approval to a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives, but it faces an uncertain future with Gov. Jerry Brown, a former Jesuit seminarian who has not said whether he will sign it.