Thirteen people including the gunman died in a mass shooting at a crowded Southern California bar late Wednesday. Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean identified the shooter as 28-year-old Ian David Long, a Marine veteran who had several previous encounters with deputies and apparently killed himself. Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Garo Kuredjian said hundreds of people were inside the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif., about 40 miles west of Los Angeles, when gunfire erupted at 11:20 p.m.

Pakistani authorities on Wednesday released Asia Bibi, the Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy, from detention but she remains stranded in the country as hard-line Islamists demand of her death. The Supreme Court of Pakistan overturned her 2010 death sentence on Oct. 31, saying prosecutors failed to prove she violated the country’s blasphemy law.

The outcome of the U.S. midterm elections drew a mixed international response Wednesday. A spokesman for the Kremlin gave a pessimistic response when asked how Democratic control of the U.S. House of Representatives would affect U.S.-Russia relations. “It’s fair to suggest with a high degree of confidence there are no glowing prospects,” Dmitry Peskov said. In China, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the country would continue to pursue improved bilateral relations regardless of the election’s outcome.

Minority groups in the United States achieved a number of milestones in Tuesday’s midterm elections. A record number of women were elected to the House of Representatives, including 29-year-old democratic-socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. In Boston, Democrat Ayanna Pressley, who ran unopposed, became the first African-American woman chosen to represent Massachusetts in Congress by defeating 10-term Rep. Michael Capuano in the Democratic primary.

Armed separatists have released the 78 students kidnapped from a Presbyterian boarding school in Cameroon, a church official confirmed Wednesday. The Rev. Fonki Samuel Forba, who leads the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, said the kidnappers dropped off the students and a driver at one of their churches near Bamenda, the capital of the restive Northwest Region. The kidnappers are still holding the school’s principal and one teacher. “Let us keep praying,” Forba said.

ABUJA, Nigeria—Nigerian security forces last week shot and killed 42 members of a Shiite Islamic movement during a violent crackdown on protests in the nation’s capital. The Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) staged a religious procession to coincide with a three-day protest demanding the release of their leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky.

The United States faces international criticism for reinstating sanctions against Iran on Monday. The European Union in a statement said it “regrets” the move and remains committed to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from earlier this year. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday warned the sanctions would not achieve any results. “Cornering is not wise, isolating Iran is dangerous, and punishing the Iranian people is not fair,” he said.