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Religion

Morocco's biggest opposition leader dies
Sheikh Abdessalam Yassine, the charismatic religious leader of Morocco's largest opposition movement and longtime opponent of two Moroccan kings, died ...
Vatican austerity means donated nativity scene
The Vatican has happily accepted a donated Nativity scene for St. Peter's Square this Christmas after its previous €550,000 ($717,000) setup was ...
Spanish botched fresco artist sells work on eBay
The 80-year-old Spanish artist who became famous because of her botched restoration of a Christ fresco in a small-town church is auctioning one of her ...
Egypt's opposition urges "no" vote in referendum
Egypt's opposition called on its followers Wednesday to vote "no" in a crucial referendum on a disputed constitution drafted by Islamist supporters ...
US, Syria opposition disagree over terrorist label
The U.S. and the head of the new Syrian opposition coalition being feted at a conference in Morocco Wednesday publicly disagreed over designating a ...
Del. man sues Boy Scouts, Mormons over sex abuse
A Delaware man sued the Boy Scouts of America and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Wednesday over childhood sexual abuse committed ...
Highlights from Egypt's draft constitution
Egypt's draft constitution, set for a referendum on Dec. 15 and 22, is made up of an introduction, an 11-part preamble and 236 articles. Critics have ...
Egypt court gives Christian 3 years for blasphemy
A Cairo court on Wednesday convicted a Coptic Christian blogger who shared an anti-Islam film on social networking sites and sentenced him to three ...
Egypt opposition urges 'No' vote on constitution
Egypt's main opposition alliance called for a "No" vote in the referendum on a disputed constitution rather than a boycott, hours after Islamist ...
O'Reilly strikes back against 'War on Christmas'
Deck the halls and man the battle stations. The fight has resumed. I'm referring, of course, to the so-called War on Christmas, a yearly call to arms ...
Germany approves bill to protect male circumcision
German lawmakers approved a bill Wednesday that explicitly permits male infant circumcision, ending months of legal uncertainty after a court ruling ...
Pope hits 1M mark as he tweets: 'Dear Friends... '
Pope Benedict XVI hit the 1 million Twitter follower mark on Wednesday as he sent his first tweet from his new account, blessing his online fans and ...
Putin rejects foreign advice on democracy
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday angrily rejected what he described as attempts to enforce foreign patterns of democracy on Russia and vowed to ...
China revokes new Shanghai Catholic bishop's title
In a fresh challenge to Vatican authority, China has revoked the title of a new Catholic bishop in Shanghai who outraged Chinese officials by ...
Vandals spray hate graffiti on Jerusalem church
Vandals have spray-painted "Death to Christianity" and "Jesus, son of a whore" on a Greek Orthodox monastery in Jerusalem. The overnight attack on the ...
Egypt judges say most will boycott referendum
Most Egyptian judges rejected any role Tuesday in overseeing the country's constitutional referendum, a move likely to cast further doubt on the ...
Pope's sensitive side revealed in children's book
A children's picture book about the goldfish pond at the pope's summer residence reveals a side of him few may know. Every day while Pope Benedict XVI ...
Egypt opposition fears violence from Brotherhood
They showed a military-style precision: Crowds of bearded Islamists proclaiming allegiance to Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi and chanting "God is ...
Sikh soldier wears turban on palace guard duty
Britain's Ministry of Defense says a Sikh soldier has become the first guardsman to parade outside Buckingham Palace while wearing his traditional ...
Belfast leaders decry petrol-bomb attack on police
Leaders from across Northern Ireland appealed Tuesday for a week of angry, illegal Protestant street protests to end after a gang surrounded a ...
British government to legalize same-sex marriage
The British government announced Tuesday that it will introduce a bill next year legalizing gay marriage — but banning the Church of England from ...
Iran arrests 28 over links to religious networks
Tehran's chief prosecutor says authorities have arrested 28 Iranians for alleged links to foreign-based TV networks advocating the Baha'i religion, ...
Meeting delay a sign of cooling US-Vietnam ties
The U.S. and Vietnam, former enemies who share concerns about China's rise, are finding that one issue — human rights — is keeping them from becoming ...
Extortion of American stings Bolivian officials
It is an unlikely tale: Orthodox Jew from New York City comes to Bolivia to rescue a rice-growing venture, gets thrown in jail on suspicion of money ...
Judge: Turn over LA priest files to court
A judge on Monday ordered the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to turn over to the court the top-secret files it has kept for decades on ...