Religion and politics

FILE - In this March 25, 2019, file photo, President Donald Trump welcomes visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in Washington. A blueprint the White House is rolling out to resolve the decades-long conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is as much about politics as it is about peace. President Donald Trump said he would likely release his long-awaited Mideast peace plan a little before he meets Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main political rival Benny Gantz. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Politics weigh heavily in Trump's Mideast peace plan

Jan. 25, 2020 6:32 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — A blueprint the White House is rolling out to resolve the decades-long conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is as much about politics as it is about peace. President Donald Trump said he would likely release his long-awaited Mideast peace plan a little before he meets Tuesday...

President of the Republic of Iraq Barham Salih is received by Pope Francis in a private audience at The Vatican, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, Pool)

Vatican urges visiting Iraqi president to protect Christians

Jan. 25, 2020 11:46 AM EST

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Saturday urged Iraqi President Barham Saleh to guarantee the safety of Christians and ensure they have a future place in the war-battered country. Saleh met with Pope Francis, the Vatican secretary of state and foreign minister during back-to-back audiences on his second...

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2019, file photo, the sun lights the buildings behind the entrance of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland. World leaders will gather twice to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp _ once on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, in Jerusalem and again on Jan. 27 at the Auschwitz site in southern Poland. The fact that there will be two competing ceremonies reflects how politically charged World War II remains for nationalist governments in Russia and Poland. (Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Europe's bishops mark Auschwitz anniversary denouncing hate

Jan. 25, 2020 9:59 AM EST

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Europe's Catholic bishops are marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz with a statement denouncing anti-Semitism and the “manipulation" of the truth for political aims. The statement was released on Saturday, also in a Hebrew version, two days ahead of the...

FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2020, file photo, Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, receives a final report from Philippine diplomat Rosario Manalo, a member of the Independent Commission of Enquiry for Rakhine State, at the Presidential Palace in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. When Suu Kyi walked into the International Court of Justice in December, 2019, she gambled the remaining shreds of her hard-won international reputation on a rebuttal of accusations that her country's military committed genocide against minority Rohingya Muslims. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, File)

Genocide charge dents halo of Myanmar's Suu Kyi

Jan. 25, 2020 6:17 AM EST

BANGKOK (AP) — When Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi walked into the International Court of Justice last month, she gambled the remaining shreds of her hard-won international reputation on a rebuttal of accusations that her country's military committed genocide against minority Rohingya Muslims. The court was...

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One for a trip to Miami to attend the Republican National Committee winter meetings, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

California defies threat of fund loss over abortion coverage

Jan. 24, 2020 6:41 PM EST

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s Democratic leaders were defiant Friday after the Trump administration threatened to cut federal health care funding to the nation’s most populous state over its requirement that insurance plans cover abortions. The administration's announcement came...

Tennessee governor signs anti-LGBT adoption bill

Jan. 24, 2020 4:39 PM EST

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee has become the latest state to assure continued taxpayer funding of faith-based foster care and adoption agencies even if those organizations exclude LGBT families and others based on religious beliefs. Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill Friday without fanfare or an...

Pope Francis meets with US Vice President Mike Pence, left, on the occasion of their private audience, at the Vatican, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Pence told Pope Francis, “You made me a hero

US Vice President Pence to Pope Francis: You made me a hero

Jan. 24, 2020 1:03 PM EST

VATICAN CITY (AP) — U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday, discussing the anti-abortion march in Washington and telling the pontiff, "You made me a hero" back home by granting him a private audience. The pope and the vice president had a private hour-long...

Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gather in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. Thousands of supporters of an influential, radical Shiite cleric gathered Friday in central Baghdad for a rally to demand that American troops leave the country amid heightened anti-US sentiment after a drone strike ordered by Washington earlier this month killed a top Iranian general in the Iraqi capital. (AP Photo)

Iraqis rally against US troops, demanding they leave

Jan. 24, 2020 12:21 PM EST

BAGHDAD (AP) — Waving national flags and banners denouncing U.S. President Donald Trump, tens of thousands of Iraqis marched peacefully through Baghdad on Friday to demand the ouster of U.S. troops from their country in a protest organized by a populist Shiite cleric. Later Friday night, two...

FILE - In this Jan. 19, 2020 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a campaign event, in Des Moines, Iowa. Warren is creating a team of religious leaders from a variety of backgrounds to serve as an interfaith council for her presidential campaign. Her new slate of 16 interfaith advisers includes a Baptist pastor from Boston as well as a rabbi for a Reform Jewish congregation in North Carolina and a sensei in the Zen Buddhist tradition. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Warren rolls out council of interfaith advisers

Jan. 24, 2020 11:08 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Elizabeth Warren on Friday tapped religious leaders from a variety of backgrounds to serve as an interfaith council for her presidential campaign, making her one of several Democratic contenders to invest in outreach to voters of faith. Warren's new slate of 16 interfaith advisers includes...

Russian court imposes fines on 2 Jehovah's Witnesses

Jan. 24, 2020 9:03 AM EST

MOSCOW (AP) — A court in northern Russia on Friday fined two Jehovah's Witnesses convicted of extremism related to their membership of the religious group, Russian media reported citing court filings. Roman Markin and Victor Trofimov were fined the equivalent of $4,850 and $5,600 for “carrying out...

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