As France reels from alleged rape of a Jewish girl, antisemitism comes to fore in election campaign

PARIS (AP) — The alleged rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a suspected antisemitic attack has sent shockwaves throughout France and thrust concerns about antisemitism to the forefront of campaigning for the country’s legislative elections. The anti-immigration National Rally...

Pakistan police register a case against a mob that killed a man suspected of desecrating the Quran

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Police in northwestern Pakistan on Friday registered a case against hundreds of people who attacked a police station and killed a man being questioned there on suspicion of desecrating the Quran, Islam’s holy book, officials said. Police were trying to...

Peace must be a priority, say Catholic leaders on anniversary of priests' violent deaths in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two years have passed since a leader of one of Mexico’s organized crime gangs stormed into a Catholic church in the remote Tarahumara mountains and fatally shot two Jesuit priests. Among many faith leaders nationwide, the pain unleashed on June 20, 2022 —...

The former nuncio to the US says he faces schism charges from the Vatican

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s former nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, said on Thursday that he has been summoned by the Vatican to face charges of schism. The archbishop posted the two-page decree from the Vatican’s Dicastry for the Doctrine of...

New Louisiana law requiring classrooms to display Ten Commandments churns old political conflicts

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A bill signed into law this week makes Louisiana the only state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every classroom in public schools and colleges — and stirs the long-running debate over the role of religion in government institutions. Under...

Defendant in Vatican trial takes case to UN, accuses pope of violating his rights with surveillance

NEW YORK (AP) — One of the defendants in the Vatican’s big financial trial has filed a formal complaint with the United Nations, alleging that Pope Francis violated his human rights by authorizing wide-ranging surveillance during the investigation. A lawyer for Raffaele...

New law requires all Louisiana public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom, the latest move from a GOP-dominated Legislature pushing a conservative agenda under a new governor. The legislation that Republican Gov....

Jihadis from Africa’s Sahel have crossed into Nigeria’s north, a new report says. A lot is at stake

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Jihadi fighters who had long operated in Africa’s volatile Sahel region have settled in northwestern Nigeria after crossing from neighboring Benin, a report said Wednesday, the latest trend in the militants' movements to wealthier West African coastal nations. ...

Hundreds died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia amid intense heat, officials say

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Hundreds of people died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, officials said Wednesday as people tried to claim their loved ones' bodies. Saudi...

Louisiana becomes the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms