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FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020, file photo, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts arrives before President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. A divided Supreme Court on Friday, May 29, 2020, rejected an emergency appeal by a California church that challenged state limits on attendance at worship services that have been imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Over the dissent of the four more conservative justices, Roberts joined the court's four liberals in turning away a request from the South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista, California, in the San Diego area. (Leah Millis/Pool via AP, File)

Supreme Court rejects challenge to limits on church services

May. 30, 2020 1:21 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal by a California church that challenged state limits on attendance at worship services that have been imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Over the dissent of the four more conservative justices, Chief Justice John...

A worker marks socially distanced spots in a parking lot for parishioners, due to the coronavirus outbreak, outside St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Chelsea, Mass., Friday, May 29, 2020. Masses, which were stopped in March due to fears of spreading the coronavirus, will resume this weekend. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Officials cite mistakes as CDC removes coronavirus guidance

May. 29, 2020 5:32 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials removed some coronavirus reopening tips for religious organizations only hours after posting them late last week, deleting guidance that discouraged choir gatherings and the use of shared communion cups. A federal health official on Friday said the Centers for Disease...

A view of a ''wall' set in front of Istanbul's 6th-century Hagia Sophia, the main cathedral of the Byzantine Empire which was converted into a mosque with the Ottoman conquest of the city, then known as Constantinople, in 1453, that was to be used as a set for the celebrations to mark the 567th anniversary of the conquest in Istanbul, Friday, May 29, 2020. A Muslim cleric recited the

Turkey reopens some mosques, prayers held in ex-cathedral

May. 29, 2020 4:30 PM EDT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Worshipers in Turkey have held their first communal Friday prayers in 74 days after the government reopened some mosques under an easing of pandemic restrictions. Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participated by video conference in events to mark the 567th anniversary of the...

Pope Francis delivers his blessing from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, May 24, 2020. For the first time in months, well-spaced faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the traditional Sunday papal blessing, casting their gaze at the window where the pope normally addresses the faithful, since the square had been closed due to anti-coronavirus lockdown measures. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Papal ping-pong? Vatican opens summer camp amid virus

May. 29, 2020 4:25 PM EDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican is getting into the summer camp business, with ping pong tables taking over the Vatican auditorium, a giant pool in the Vatican Gardens and team sports on the Vatican helipad. The Holy See is offering a month of tennis, swimming, games and sports for the children of Vatican...

In this Sunday, May 24, 2020, photo, a Greek Orthodox priest distributes Holy Communion during Sunday Mass in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece, using the traditional method of a shared spoon. Contrary to science, the Greek Orthodox Church and its followers insist it is impossible for any disease, including the coronavirus, to be transmitted through Holy Communion. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

Communion unchanged in Greek Orthodox Church despite virus

May. 29, 2020 3:07 PM EDT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — One by one, the children and adults line up for the centuries-old ritual of Holy Communion, trying to keep a proper social distance. The priest dips a spoon into the chalice of bread and wine, which the faithful believe is the body and blood of Christ, and puts it into the mouth of...

Wearing masks to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, Thiago do Nascimento, right, and Keilla de Almeida kiss during their drive-thru wedding at the registry office in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 28, 2020. Couples have begun turning to this unconventional union at a notary in Santa Cruz since the COVID-19 started battering Brazil. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

May. 29, 2020 12:35 PM EDT

U.S. consumer spending plunged by a record-shattering 13.6% in April as the pandemic shuttered businesses, forced millions of layoffs and sent the economy into deep recession. Europe’s extensive social welfare net is showing signs of fraying under economic strain from the coronavirus. The Spanish...

FILE - In this July 28, 2009 file photo, Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in the landmark lawsuit Roe v. Wade, speaks as she joins other anti-abortion demonstrators inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office on Capitol Hill in Washington. In a 2020 documentary, she admitted she was paid by anti-abortion activists for her inauthentic conversion. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

For abortion foes, Trump's allyship blunts 'Roe' revelation

May. 29, 2020 9:03 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Norma McCorvey’s admission that her conversion from the face of abortion rights -- as the “Jane Roe” of the historic 1973 Supreme Court case -- to an opponent of the practice came with payments from anti-abortion activists might seem to be a blow to their movement. But...

In this May 21, 2020, photo, grave diggers bury a body at Radwan Cemetery in Aden, Yemen. At a cemetery in Yemen’s largest southern city, dozens of fresh graves are a testament to a spike in deaths amid the coronavirus pandemic. The cemetery workers who bury them don’t know what killed the newly deceased. But there’s no denying that there's been an increasing number of people getting sick in the port city of Aden — likely from the coronavirus. (AP Photo)

The Latest: UN urges $2.4 billion in aid for war-torn Yemen

May. 29, 2020 1:31 AM EDT

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. TOP OF THE HOUR: — UN urgently appeals for $2.4 billion to help Yemen cope...

This February 2019 photo released by Erica Sauder shows Sasha Krause, who authorities say disappeared from a Mennonite community near Farmington, N.M, in January 2020. Her body was found more than a month later in the forest outside Flagstaff, Ariz. (Erica Sauder via AP)

Man charged in Mennonite woman's death grew up in the faith

May. 28, 2020 8:39 PM EDT

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — In a forest clearing outside Flagstaff, Arizona, Sasha Krause was found cold and stiff, with a bullet wound to the back of her head. She was face down beneath brush, wearing a gray dress, white coat and hiking shoes. Her hair was pinned in a bun and her hands bound by duct tape. Her...

FILE - In this Thursday, April 16, 2020 file photo, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield, left, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, depart after accompanying President Donald Trump as he speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. Faith and science are both under unprecedented pressures during a pandemic that’s asked them to deliver comfort or certainty — while at times straining their relationship. But for some leaders of the U.S. pandemic response, the two have worked in concert. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

For top U.S. virus experts, faith and science work together

May. 28, 2020 3:52 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — The relationship between faith and science has faced its share of strain during the coronavirus pandemic — but for some scientists leading the nation's response, the two have worked in concert. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins founded a nonprofit focused on...

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