Latest Religion News
High court to hear pastor’s case against virus charges
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it will hear arguments in a pastor’s fight against criminal charges he faces for violations of pandemic gathering limits that were in effect last year. Tony Spell got national attention when he began to flout...
Rohingya sue Facebook for $150B, alleging role in violence
LONDON (AP) — Rohingya refugees sued social network powerhouse Facebook for more than $150 billion, accusing it of failing to stop hate speech that incited violence against the Muslim ethnic group by military rulers and their supporters in Myanmar. Years after coming under...
In major change, UAE workweek to be Monday through Friday
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday its official workweek will move to Monday to Friday, a significant change that brings the Islamic nation home to major financial institutions in line with Western schedules. The decision, which is to take...
Motorcycle bombing in southern Iraqi city of Basra kills 4
BASRA, Iraq (AP) — A motorcycle rigged with explosives went off in the center of Iraq's southern city of Basra on Tuesday, killing at least four people and wounding four others, according to Iraqi security forces. The blast set ablaze two other vehicles and sent a column of black...
Looted Gilgamesh tablet returns to Iraq in formal ceremony
BAGHDAD (AP) — A small clay tablet dating back 3,500 years and bearing a portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh that was looted from an Iraqi museum 30 years ago and recently recovered from the United States formally returned to Iraq on Tuesday. The $1.7 million cuneiform tablet, known...
About 100 Japanese lawmakers visit controversial shrine
TOKYO (AP) — A group of about 100 Japanese lawmakers prayed at a Tokyo shrine viewed by China and the Koreas as a symbol of Japanese wartime aggression on Tuesday, 80 years after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Many of the lawmakers, including nine vice ministers and special...
Memphis' Rhodes College appoints new president
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Rhodes College has announced the appointment of Jennifer M. Collins as the Memphis school's 21st president. Collins has served as dean of the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University in Texas since 2014, according to a news release on the...
Armed gangs raise risks in vaccinating rural Nigerians
KUJE, Nigeria (AP) — Yunusa Bawa rolled his motorcycle away from the health care clinic where he works in Kuje, southwest of Nigeria's capital of Abuja, and secured a black box of COVID-19 vaccine for the rough ride ahead. The rocky and rugged pathway — Bawa described it as a...
Body of Sri Lankan lynching victim arrives from Pakistan
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The charred body of a factory manager who was lynched by a mob in Pakistan for alleged blasphemy was brought back to Sri Lanka on Monday. Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara was assaulted by a mob of hundreds of people before being dragged into the...
Iowa to pay $1.9M to settle religious, speech rights cases
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state panel agreed Monday to spend nearly $2 million to settle two federal lawsuits brought against the University of Iowa in 2017 after a religious group denied a gay student a leadership role. The Iowa State Appeal Board, made up of Treasurer Michael...
