Infectious disease specialists work to diagnose possible Ebola cases in Africa on April 4, 2013. For the first time in West Africa, a case of Ebola was confirmed on March 21, 2013, three weeks after the first alert of a possible viral haemorrhagic fever emerged from Guinea’s Forest region.
A doctor working with Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse in Liberia has tested positively for Ebola.
Pope Francis met with pentecostals today. Stay tuned at RNS for a story soon. The pope also ate in the Vatican’s cafeteria Friday.
Hundreds of police took down a church’s cross in eastern China early Monday amid a crackdown on church buildings in a coastal region where thousands of people are embracing Christianity.
One of the most joyous days in the Muslim calendar, the holiday of Eid al-Fitr ending Ramadan, was marked on Monday by sorrow in the Gaza Strip. In France, thousands marched in Marseille in support of Israel while thousands in Paris protested Israeli offensive.
Catholic Church weddings have declined 40 percent between 2000 and 2012.
A United Nations human rights panel has told Ireland it should change its restrictive abortion laws and said allegations of abuse of women and children at Catholic-run homes must be further investigated.
Krista Tippett will receive a National Humanities Medal from the White House today. Here’s a mini profile.
Some interesting reads:
The Millers, members of an Amish breakaway sect at the center of 2011 hair-cutting attacks on other Amish, are trying to settle back into life at home after being exposed in prison to things like yoga, phones and the pool.
T.M. Luhrman writes on why some may believe a man will arise from the dead but draw the line at the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Are Michelangelo’s drawings anti-Semitic? Read more from The Jewish Daily Forward.
Making drama films about the Middle East can be complicated.