Latest Religion and politics News
Senate confirms Biden 1st Cabinet pick as Democrats control
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three new senators were sworn into office after President Joe Biden's inauguration, securing the majority for Democrats in the Senate and across a unified government to tackle the new president's agenda at a time of unprecedented national challenges. In a first vote, the Senate confirmed...
Biden, Harris urged to 'repair the breach' in prayer service
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris heard from leaders from a wide array of religious traditions Thursday in the National Prayer Service, a day after they were sworn into office to lead a sharply polarized country. An inaugural tradition that went online this year due to...
Portugal shuts schools, blames variant for COVID-19 surge
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s government on Thursday ordered the closure of schools for two weeks amid a surge in COVID-19 infections that the prime minister blamed on the rise of a more contagious variant. “The risk of this virus spreading through society has increased,” Prime...
Pakistan seeks to block US-based website of minority Ahmadis
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan has ordered a U.S.-based website propagating the faith of Pakistan's minority Ahmadis shut down over allegedly blasphemous content, one of the site's managers said Thursday. Harris Zafar said Pakistan’s Telecommunication Authority earlier this month issued a legal notice...
Biden inaugural: Abrupt pivot to civility in post-Trump era
WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington couldn’t turn the page quickly enough from Donald Trump to President Joe Biden. Trump's voice faded from the capital he had animated and antagonized since 2017 as he flew to private life in Florida, with his last trip on Air Force One tuned in to Biden's inauguration on...
Biden bets big on immigration changes in opening move
SAN DIEGO (AP) — For the opening salvo of his presidency, few expected Joe Biden to be so far-reaching on immigration. A raft of executive orders signed Wednesday undoes many of his predecessor’s hallmark initiatives, such as halting work on a border wall with Mexico, lifting a travel ban on people...
On Day One, Biden targets Trump policies on climate, virus
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is moving swiftly to dismantle Donald Trump's legacy on his first day in office, signing a series of executive actions that reverse course on immigration, climate change, racial equity and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The new president signed the orders...
The Latest: Fireworks light up sky to celebrate inauguration
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Joe Biden's presidential inauguration (all times local): 10:15 p.m. Fireworks lit up the sky behind the Washington Monument to mark the end of Inauguration Day for President Joe Biden. Biden and first lady Jill Biden watched the end of the day’s events from a balcony...
Americans who live, work near capitols see peace, new hope
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Normally quiet streets around U.S. state capitol buildings have looked more like battlegrounds recently, putting those who live and work there on edge. More than most people, these Americans will have front-row seats on whether the change of leadership Wednesday in the White House will...
Biden's Bible puts him in line with inaugural tradition
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took their oaths of office on Wednesday using Bibles that are laden with personal meaning, writing new chapters in a long-running American tradition — and one that appears nowhere in the law. The Constitution does not require the use of a specific text...
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