The United States and Guns

Reporter Michael Luo tells Rendezvous's editor, Marcus Mabry, that the Newtown shooting did change something in America, despite the defeat of gun control measures.

IHT Quick Read: April 18

NEWS Sharply different perspectives within the Obama administration concerning the Syrian opposition emerged publicly on Wednesday when Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made separate appearances before Congress. Michael R. Gordon reports from Washington.

Greece’s economic free-fall is reshaping the lives of families with children, many of whom arrive at school hungry, underfed or even malnourished. Liz Alderman reports from Athens.

In rapid succession, a bipartisan compromise in the U.S. Senate to expand background checks for gun buyers, a ban on assault weapons and a ban on high-capacity gun magazines all failed to get the 60 votes needed under an agreement between both parties. Senators also turned back Republican proposals to expand permission to carry concealed weapons and to focus law enforcement efforts on prosecuting gun crimes. Michael R. Gordon reports from Washington.

In the first major break in the hunt for the Boston Marathon bomber, F.B.I. personnel on Wednesday found security video clips that showed a man they believe may have played a role in planting the explosives that killed three people and injured more than 170 on Monday. Katharine Q. Seelye reports from Boston, and Scott Shane and Michael S. Schmidt from Washington.

In Afghanistan, Mazar-i-Sharif has become the unofficial capital of prostitution â€" so much so that “going to Mazar” has become an expression for men looking to pay for sex. Azam Ahmed reports from Mazar-i-Sharif.

Azzam Alwash, who this week received the Goldman Environmental Prize, is focused on reviving the massive oasis in the desert or Iraq that biblical scholars say may have been the Garden of Eden. Erica Gies reports.

The I.M.F. has more say over crisis management than many euro zone members, and its managing director, Christine Lagarde, has become a quasi head of state, whose views carry more weight than those of many elected leaders. Jack Ewing reports from Frankfurt.

Europe is lurching through an energy crisis that in many respects parallels its seemingly unending economic crisis. Across Europe, consumer groups, governments and manufacturers are asking how their future energy needs can be met affordably and responsibly. Stanley Reed writes from London.

ARTS After a five-year restoration, the Louxor, a neo-Egyptian movie palace from the 1920s, is reopening in Paris. Olivia Snaije reports.

When dozens of valuable works by Turkish modern and contemporary artists that had been part of a university museum’s collection were about to be sold at auction earlier this year, an uproar ensued. Suzanne Fowler reports from Istanbul.

SPORTS There are hundreds of documented cases of children in Japan who have suffered catastrophic injuries doing judo under school supervision. Over the past 30 years, 118 have died. Daniel Krieger and Noriko Norica-Panayota Kitano report.