Police fatally shoot a blasphemy suspect in Pakistan in 2nd such killing in a week

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Police in southern Pakistan shot dead a blasphemy suspect during an alleged shootout with armed men, officials said Thursday, the second such apparent extra-judicial killing in a week, drawing condemnation from human rights groups. Police identified the...

These evangelicals are voting their values — by backing Kamala Harris

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Rev. Lee Scott publicly endorsed Kamala Harris for president during the Evangelicals for Harris Zoom call on Aug. 14, the Presbyterian pastor and farmer said he was taking a risk. “The easy thing for us to do this year would be to keep our heads down,...

Vatican gives green light to devotion at Bosnia site in Medjugorje where Madonna reportedly appeared

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Thursday gave the green light for Catholics to continue flocking to a southern Bosnian village where children reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary, offering its approval for devotion at one of the most contested sites of Roman Catholic practice in recent...

Kamala Harris steps up outreach to Mormon voters in battleground Arizona

PHOENIX (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping up her efforts to win over voters who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, enlisting prominent members of the faith to make the case in pivotal Arizona that Donald Trump does not align with the church's values. ...

Takeaways from AP's report on the evangelicals backing Kamala Harris

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has heavily courted conservative evangelicals since his arrival on the political scene almost a decade ago. Now he is selling Trump-themed Bibles, touting the overturning of Roe v. Wade and imploring Christians to get out the vote for him. ...

Vatican gives green light to devotion at Bosnian site in Medjugorje where Virgin Mary is said to have appeared

Malaysian police detain CEO and other leaders of Islamic group as probe into child sex abuse widens

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian police on Thursday detained the CEO and other top leaders of an Islamic business group that is under investigation after hundreds of children believed to be sexually abused were rescued this month from welfare homes linked to the group. ...

A vandal badly damaged a statue outside a St. Louis cathedral, police say

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man used construction equipment to drop a heavy boom lift onto a sculpture that has stood for 25 years outside St. Louis' Cathedral Basilica, badly damaging it, police said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Angel of Harmony, which stood 14 feet (4.3...

Vatican opens new investigation into leaks surrounding its 'trial of the century' probe

ROME (AP) — The Vatican prosecutor has opened a new investigation into the alleged leak of information about its “trial of the century” probe into a London property investment, the Holy See said Tuesday. The leak emerged during the course of a broader, separate Italian...

Festival season starts in Nepal with devotees honoring a living goddess

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s monthslong festival season began on Tuesday with tens of thousands of devotees pulling a wooden chariot with a young girl revered as a living goddess. Families gathered for feasts and lit incense for the dead at shrines. Men and boys in colorful...