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Faithful gather in the Paul VI hall during Pope Francis weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. The Vatican is putting an end to Pope Francis’ general audiences with the public amid a surge in coronavirus cases in Italy and a confirmed infection at Oct. 21 encounter. The Vatican said Thursday that Francis would resume livestreaming his weekly catechism lessons from his library in the Apostolic Palace, as he did during the Vatican’s COVID-19 lockdown over the spring and summer. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope ends public audiences, eyes Christmas as virus surges

Oct. 29, 2020 2:45 PM EDT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is halting his public general audiences and will limit participation at Christmas and other upcoming Masses amid a surge of coronavirus cases in Italy and the Vatican, officials said Thursday. Starting next week, Francis will resume livestreaming his weekly catechism lessons from...

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2016 file photo, Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr., poses during an interview in his offices at the school in Lynchburg, Va. Falwell filed a lawsuit Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, against Liberty University with defamation and breach of contract claims alleging the school damaged his reputation in statements after his resignation. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Falwell sues Liberty, saying school damaged his reputation

Oct. 29, 2020 4:35 PM EDT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Jerry Falwell Jr. has sued Liberty University, alleging the evangelical school founded by his late pastor father damaged his reputation in a series of public statements that followed his resignation as president and chancellor in August amid a series of scandals. The lawsuit filed in...

In this image taken from video issued by Britain's Labour Party showing Labour Party leader Keir Starmer as he makes a statement accepting all recommendations of a damning anti-Semitism report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), in London Thursday Oct. 29, 2020. Former party leader Jeremy Corbyn has been suspended by the party Thursday. The report says the opposition Labour Party failed to stamp out anti-Semitism and committed “unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination” against members of the Jewish community. (Labour Party via AP)

UK Labour leader says anti-Semitism brings shame on party

Oct. 29, 2020 3:06 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — Officials in Britain's opposition Labour Party failed to stamp out anti-Semitism and committed “unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination,” the U.K. equalities watchdog said Thursday in a scathing report. Labour's leader said it was “a day of shame” for the...

Pope Francis shares a word with Monsignor Luis Maria Rodrigo Ewart as he arrives in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican for his weekly general audience, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. A Vatican official who is a key member of Francis' COVID-19 response commission, the Rev. Augusto Zampini, acknowledged Tuesday that at age 83 and with part of his lung removed after an illness in his youth, Francis would be at high risk for complications if he were to become infected. Zampini said he hoped Francis would don a mask at least when he greeted people during the general audience.

Maskless pope blames 'this lady called COVID' for distance

Oct. 28, 2020 6:52 AM EDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has blamed “this lady called COVID” for forcing him to keep his distance again from the faithful during his general audience, which was far smaller than usual amid soaring coronavirus infections in Italy. Francis again eschewed a protective mask Wednesday even...

In this Aug. 23, 2020, photo provided by Steve NeSmith, Scott Sauls, senior pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church, preaches to his congregation in Nashville, Tenn. (Steve NeSmith/Christ Presbyterian Church via AP)

Fraught election puts faith leaders through a political test

Oct. 27, 2020 12:07 PM EDT

Both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden count endorsements from well-known faith leaders. But for clergy members who try to tackle thorny moral matters without overtly backing a candidate, the campaign has tested their ability to reconcile religious values and politics. That challenge comes...

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In a photo provided by Word Aflame Ministries, people are outdoors during a service at Word Aflame Tabernacle in La Habra Heights, Calif. The Pentecostal church says the city violated its constitutional rights by harassing it over the way it has held outdoor gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Word Aflame Ministries via AP)

Church: California city violated its rights during pandemic

Oct. 29, 2020 9:24 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When other church leaders protested coronavirus shutdown orders, saying they were following the word of the Lord, pastor Joe Garcia said he followed the word of the law. He held services online for months during coronavirus restrictions and later his Pentecostal flock socially distanced...

Ambulance crew work as a patient arrives at the CHR CItadelle hospital in Liege, Belgium, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Belgium has announced restrictive measures across the country in an effort to curb the fast-rising tide of COVID-19, coronavirus cases. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)

The Latest: Oregon sets single-day new COVID-19 case record

Oct. 29, 2020 8:10 PM EDT

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon set another dismal record on Thursday with 575 new confirmed or presumptive cases of COVID-19, the most ever reported in a day since the outbreak began. The state also reported two new deaths, bringing the total to 673. The Oregon Health Authority says the new cases indicate...

Police work behind a restricted zone near the Notre Dame church in Nice, southern France, after a knife attack took place on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. An attacker armed with a knife killed at least three people at a church in the Mediterranean city of Nice, prompting the prime minister to announce that France was raising its security alert status to the highest level. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Tunisian carrying Quran fatally stabs 3 in French church

Oct. 29, 2020 7:48 PM EDT

NICE, France (AP) — A young Tunisian man armed with a knife and carrying a copy of the Quran attacked worshippers in a French church and killed three Thursday, prompting the government to raise its security alert to the maximum level hours before a nationwide coronavirus lockdown. The attack in...

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2020 file photo, President Donald Trump arrives for a Latinos for Trump Coalition roundtable at Arizona Grand Resort & Spa in Phoenix. President Donald Trump is putting up a fight for Latino voters in key swing states with Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Polls show Biden with a commanding overall lead with Hispanic voters, a diverse group that defies neat political categories. Still, about 3 in 10 registered Latino voters nationwide back Trump, roughly consistent with how Latinos voted in 2018 congressional elections and in 2016. Latino men, like men of other races, support Trump more than Hispanic women. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Gender gap among Latino voters seen in some families

Oct. 29, 2020 6:22 PM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Paul Gonzales promised his wife he wouldn’t vote for Donald Trump in 2016. But the 60-year-old salesman in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa voted for him anyway and said he plans to do it again next week. Gonzales said he’s drawn to what he sees as Trump’s alignment with...

A man prays in the street outside the Notre Dame church in Nice, southern France, after a knife attack took place on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. An attacker armed with a knife killed at least three people at a church in the Mediterranean city of Nice, prompting the prime minister to announce that France was raising its security alert status to the highest level. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

The Latest: Prosecutor: attacker not on intelligence radar

Oct. 29, 2020 5:35 PM EDT

PARIS (AP) — The Latest on a knife attack in Nice, France, (all times local): 10:25 p.m. France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor says the Nice attacker, who was born in 1999, was not on the radar of intelligence agencies as a potential threat. Jean-Francois Ricard detailed the gruesome scene inside the...

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2016 file photo, Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr., poses during an interview in his offices at the school in Lynchburg, Va. Falwell filed a lawsuit Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, against Liberty University with defamation and breach of contract claims alleging the school damaged his reputation in statements after his resignation. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Falwell sues Liberty, saying school damaged his reputation

Oct. 29, 2020 4:35 PM EDT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Jerry Falwell Jr. has sued Liberty University, alleging the evangelical school founded by his late pastor father damaged his reputation in a series of public statements that followed his resignation as president and chancellor in August amid a series of scandals. The lawsuit filed in...

France's anti-terrorism prosecutor says the man who killed three in a Nice church was a Tunisian who had been in Italy

Oct. 29, 2020 4:23 PM EDT
NICE, France (AP) — France's anti-terrorism prosecutor says the man who killed three in a Nice church was a Tunisian who had been in Italy.

Contract instructor at police academy fired over racial slur

Oct. 29, 2020 3:51 PM EDT

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A contract instructor for the academy that trains police officers in St. Louis County has been fired for using a racial slur during a class. KSDK-TV reports that St. Louis County Police Chief Mary Barton fired the instructor after an investigation. St. Louis Police County Police...

Police stand guard while protesters block the parliament in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday Oct. 28, 2020. People across Poland stayed off their jobs and huge crowds poured onto the streets for a seventh straight day of protests Wednesday, enraged over a top court ruling that bans abortions in cases of fetal abnormalities. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Poland: New protests as PM urges restraint amid virus spike

Oct. 29, 2020 3:50 PM EDT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — New protests broke out in Polish cities late Thursday against a recent high court ruling that tightens already strict abortion laws, with participants ignoring an appeal by Poland's prime minister to desist due to pandemic restrictions as COVID-19 infections hit a huge spike. Hundreds...

Indian police chase activists of Peoples Democratic party (PDP) protesting against India's new land laws that allows any Indian citizen to buy land in the disputed region in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. Until last year, Indians were not allowed to buy property in the region. But in August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government scrapped the disputed region’s special status, annulled its separate constitution, split the region into two federal territories. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

3 politicians from India's ruling party killed in Kashmir

Oct. 29, 2020 3:29 PM EDT

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Assailants shot and killed three politicians from India’s ruling party in Kashmir late Thursday, police said, blaming militants fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region. Militants fired at the three members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata...

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