Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a possible presidential hopeful, said at Liberty University, the Virginia school founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, that religious Americans have a duty to take a stand against policies, such as President Barack Obama’s health-care law, that could threaten their liberties.

Charla Nash, who was disfigured in a 2009 chimpanzee attack and claims that state officials knew the animal was dangerous, said she is “heartbroken” that Connecticut lawmakers recommended that she not be allowed to sue the state for financial damages.

Rob Ford, the Toronto mayor who acknowledged last year that he had smoked crack, was the lone no vote in the City Council on measures congratulating Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes and naming a Toronto street after the late Nelson Mandela, with his chief of staff later saying the mayor voted in error.

Connie Britton, the star of the television shows Friday Night Lights and Nashville, was named a good-will ambassador for the United Nations Development Program.

Pope Francis hailed Pope John Paul II’s legacy in St. Peter’s Square as he marked the ninth anniversary of the Polish-born pontiff’s death and urged the faithful to prepare for John Paul’s pending sainthood.

Muriel Bowser, 41, a District of Columbia council member, defeated incumbent Mayor Vincent Gray in the Democratic primary with 44 percent of the vote, appealing to voters weary of scandals surrounding Gray’s 2010 campaign.

Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta said he believes the Roman Catholic Church will sell a $2.2 million home he built for his own use, after local Catholics objected to the mansion.

Corry Campbell, 20; Sandra Ng, 19; Jennifer Pratt, 29; and David Thomas, 27, were charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and kidnapping, accused of forcibly tattooing a 52-year-old man with racial slurs and obscene images while holding him captive for three days in a Philadelphia basement.

Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana and a potential 2016 presidential candidate, offered a 26-page Republican alternative to President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, saying states should play a greater role in containing healthcare costs while giving consumers flexibility in choosing insurance plans.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 04/03/2014