Latest Religion News
Ramadan begins in Mideast amid high costs, hopes for peace
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — The first daily fast of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan began Thursday, as hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide enter a four-week period of worship. The observance comes at a time when numerous countries and governments across the Middle East are...
Israeli leader halts bill against Christian proselytizing
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said he would prevent the passage of a proposal by a powerful ally in his governing coalition to punish Christian proselytizing with jail time. The proposal had raised an uproar with evangelical Christians —...
New bill aims to outlaw caste discrimination in California
California may become the first state in the nation to outlaw caste-based bias, a safeguard people of South Asian descent say is necessary to protect them from discrimination in housing, education and the tech sector where they hold key roles. State Sen. Aisha Wahab, the first Muslim...
Pioneer of gospel music rediscovered in Pittsburgh archives
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Scattered in crates, dirty and difficult to read, the gospel music of composer Charles Henry Pace sat packed away, unorganized — and unrealized — for more than 20 years. Frances Pace Barnes, the pioneering music publisher’s daughter who remembers how he...
Sotheby's hopes for record sale of ancient Hebrew Bible
JERUSALEM (AP) — One of the oldest surviving biblical manuscripts, a nearly complete 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible, could soon be yours — for a cool $30 million. The Codex Sassoon, a leather-bound, handwritten parchment tome containing almost the entirety of the Hebrew Bible, is...
Holy month of Ramadan begins for Muslims across the world
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Muslim holy month of Ramadan began at sundown on Wednesday, as the faithful prepared for a month of dawn-to-dusk fasting intended to bring them closer to God and to remind them of the suffering of those less fortunate. For the next 30 days,...
Muslims in Indonesia celebrate Ramadan amid soaring prices
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Millions of Muslims in Indonesia are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan that was set to begin Thursday as many grappled with soaring food prices as a result of supply disruptions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. From colorful torchlight street...
Australian jury mulls verdicts in Israeli principal trial
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian jury retired on Wednesday to consider their verdicts following the six-week trial of a former principal of a Melbourne ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls school accused of molesting three sisters. Malka Leifer, 56, has pleaded not guilty in the...
Muslim authorities say Ramadan fasting to begin Thursday
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Muslim authorities in Saudi Arabia and several other Middle Eastern countries say this year's fasting month of Ramadan will begin Thursday based on the expected sighting of the crescent moon. Clerics across the region said the moon was not visible...
Apaches tell court copper mine would harm sacred sites
PHOENIX (AP) — A Native American group that's trying to stop an effort to build one of the largest copper mines in the United States told a full federal appeals court panel Tuesday that the project would prevent Apaches from exercising their religion by destroying land they consider sacred. ...
