Religion News

Syria's government signs a breakthrough deal with Kurdish-led authorities in the northeast

JABLEH, Syria (AP) — Syria's interim government signed a deal Monday with the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast, including a ceasefire and the merging of the main U.S.-backed force there into the Syrian army.

Mar 10, 2025 9:29 PM Read more >

Greek lawmaker attacks paintings in Athens' National Gallery, claiming they are offensive

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's National Gallery said a Greek lawmaker on Monday attacked four paintings in an exhibition at the museum in Athens , including one he had previously criticized as offensive on religious grounds.

Mar 10, 2025 5:38 PM Read more >

Drought-stricken Algeria plans to import 1 million sheep ahead of Islam's Eid Al-Adha

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria’s president has announced plans to import a staggering 1 million sheep ahead of this year’s Eid al-Adha , the holiday during which Muslims worldwide purchase livestock for sacrifice.

Mar 10, 2025 5:35 PM Read more >

Doctors declare Pope Francis no longer in imminent danger due to pneumonia, but remains hospitalized

ROME (AP) — Doctors said Monday Pope Francis is no longer in imminent danger of death as a result of pneumonia that has kept him hospitalized for nearly a month, but have decided to keep him hospitalized for several more days to receive treatment.

Mar 10, 2025 4:16 PM Read more >

Quebec committee to look at how to strengthen secularism, possible public prayer ban

MONTREAL — The Quebec government has announced a new committee to make recommendations on how to strengthen secularism in the province, including by possibly restricting public prayer.

Mar 10, 2025 11:59 AM Read more >

A cache of explosives in Sydney provoked antisemitic terrorism fears. Police now say it was faked

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — An explosives-filled trailer that Australian politicians earlier described as an antisemitic terrorism plot and a foiled mass casualty event was staged by criminals in a complicated hoax -- and was never meant to be det

Mar 10, 2025 3:36 AM Read more >

Syria's Druze seek a place in a changing nation, navigating pressures from the government and Israel

JARAMANA, Syria (AP) — Syria’s Druze minority has a long history of cutting their own path to survive among the country’s powerhouses. They are now trying again to navigate a new, uncertain Syria since the fall of longtime autocrat Bashar Assad.

Mar 10, 2025 1:15 AM Read more >

Syria's worst violence in months reopens wounds of the civil war

An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1,000 people over four days.

Mar 9, 2025 7:55 PM Read more >

Israel cuts off electricity supply to Gaza, affecting a desalination plant producing drinking water

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel cut off the electricity supply to Gaza , officials said Sunday, affecting a desalination plant producing drinking water for part of the arid territory. Hamas called it part of Israel's “starvation policy.

Mar 9, 2025 5:33 PM Read more >

Thousands in Nepal want monarchy back as public frustration with politics grows

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Thousands of supporters greeted Nepal's former king in capital Kathmandu on Sunday and demanded his abolished monarchy be reinstated and Hinduism brought back as a state religion.

Mar 9, 2025 10:33 AM Read more >