Lawsuit challenges new Louisiana law requiring classrooms to display the Ten Commandments

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit Monday to block Louisiana’s new law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, a measure they contend is unconstitutional. Plaintiffs in the suit include parents of Louisiana...

Lawsuit challenges new Louisiana law requiring classrooms to display the Ten Commandments

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit Monday to block Louisiana’s new law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, a measure they contend is unconstitutional. Plaintiffs in the suit include parents of Louisiana...

President Joe Biden 'appalled' by violence during pro-Palestinian protest at Los Angeles synagogue

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Opponents of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza staged a protest that evolved into brawling and one arrest outside a Los Angeles synagogue over the weekend in violence condemned on Monday by President Joe Biden and the city's mayor, who called for more police patrols. ...

Philadelphia pastor elected to lead historic Black church in New York City

New York’s historic Abyssinian Baptist Church has elected its new senior pastor, likely bringing an end to a national search to replace the late Rev. Calvin O. Butts, who had served the church for a half-century before his death in 2022. The Rev. Kevin R. Johnson, the founder of...

Police ask Texas prosecutors to treat attempted drowning of 3-year-old child as a hate crime

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas woman allegedly tried to drown a 3-year-old at an apartment complex pool in suburban Dallas after making racist remarks toward the child's mother in a case investigators are asking to be treated as a hate crime, a police spokeswoman said Monday. Elizabeth...

Civil liberties groups file lawsuit challenging Louisiana's new law mandating display of Ten Commandments in classrooms

Supreme Court rejects challenge to Connecticut law that eliminated religious vaccination exemption

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to a 2021 Connecticut law that eliminated the state’s longstanding religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities. The justices did not comment in...

Russian region of Dagestan holds a day of mourning after attacks kill 20 people, officials say

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s southern region of Dagestan held the first of three days of mourning Monday following an attack by Islamic militants who authorities say killed 20 people, mostly police, and attacked Christian and Jewish houses of worship in assaults in two cities. Sunday's...

Dagestan, in southern Russia, has a history of violence. Why does it keep happening?

Over the years, Russia's southern republic of Dagestan, located in the North Caucasus region, has been beset by extremist violence. This weekend, there was more bloodshed. Officials say five gunmen in the regional capital of Makhachkala and the city of Derbent opened fire at Orthodox...

The Vatican appoints Pope Benedict's longtime secretary as its envoy to the Baltic states

BERLIN (AP) — Pope Francis has appointed the longtime secretary of the late Pope Benedict XVI, who was sent back to his native Germany without a new assignment last year after he fell out with the current pontiff, as the Vatican's diplomatic representative to the Baltic states. The...