World
In Jerusalem, Palestinian Christians observe scaled-down Good Friday rituals
By Julia Frankel — March 29, 2024
JERUSALEM (AP) — The city's streets were noticeably devoid of Palestinian Christians from the West Bank, who normally flock to the Holy City for the Easter festivities. Since Oct. 7, Palestinian worshippers have needed special permission to cross checkpoints into Jerusalem.
Girl, 8, only survivor of bus crash that kills 45 Easter pilgrims on South Africa’s deadly roads
By Gerald Imray and Nqobile Ntshangase — March 29, 2024
MMAMATLAKALA, South Africa (AP) — Authorities said it appeared that the driver lost control and the bus ploughed into the barriers along the side of the bridge and then over the edge.
French soccer federation limits support for players’ Ramadan observance. Critics see discrimination
By Samuel Petrequin — March 29, 2024
(AP) – Ahead of training camps which took place in March, the federation made clear it would not change the schedule for meals and practices to accommodate players who want to fully observe the religious ritual.
Ministers aid seafarers caught in Baltimore bridge crisis
By Adelle M. Banks — March 28, 2024
(RNS) — ‘Everyone’s still kind of rattled and trying to figure things out,’ said the Rev. Joshua Messick, who has Bibles ‘in every conceivable language’ to distribute upon request.
Easter 2024 in the Holy Land: a holiday marked by Palestinian Christian sorrow
By Roni Abusaad — March 28, 2024
(The Conversation) — A Christian Palestinian human rights scholar who grew up in Bethlehem writes about the special time of Easter, but also about the restrictions on Palestinian Christians.
The roots of the Easter story: Where did Christian beliefs about Jesus’ resurrection come from?
By Aaron Gale — March 28, 2024
(The Conversation) — Ideas about resurrection had been developing for centuries before Jesus’ life, but his followers took them in new directions.
With its soldiers mired in Gaza, Israel fights a battle at home over drafting the ultra-Orthodox
By Melanie Lidman — March 28, 2024
JERUSALEM (AP) — Among Israel’s Jewish majority, mandatory military service is largely seen as a melting pot and rite of passage. The ultra-Orthodox say that integrating into the army will threaten their generations-old way of life.
That terror attack in Moscow: What the world does not realize
By Jeffrey Salkin — March 28, 2024
(RNS) — From Oct. 7 to Moscow: This is the real battle.
Kenya starts to hand over to relatives the bodies of 429 members of a doomsday cult
By Evelyne Musambi — March 27, 2024
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Exhumed bodies from a vast rural area in coastal Kenya have shown signs of starvation and strangulation.
Germany player Rüdiger takes legal steps after Ramadan greeting prompts accusation of terror support
By Associated Press — March 27, 2024
BERLIN (AP) — Former Bild chief editor Julian Reichelt responded on X, formerly Twitter, with a series of posts accusing the player of “Islamism” and of showing the “ISIS-greeting of Islamists.
More than 140 global Christian leaders call for Gaza cease-fire in Holy Week letter
By Aleja Hertzler-McCain — March 26, 2024
(RNS) — ‘We repent of the ways we have not stood alongside our Palestinian siblings in faithful witness in the midst of their grief, agony, and sorrow,’ the leaders wrote.
Purim’s original queen: How studying the Book of Esther as fan fiction can teach us about the roots of an unruly Jewish festival
By Esther Brownsmith — March 26, 2024
(The Conversation) — Whether thousands of years ago or right now, fans have always created new stories based on familiar characters, weaving their own experiences into the tale.
Malaysian convenience store owners charged over ‘Allah’ socks that angered Muslims
By Associated Press — March 26, 2024
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Allah is an Arabic word for God, and many Malaysian Muslims found it offensive to associate the word with feet.
Abducted as babies in the 1970s, these Argentines found a way toward their true identity
By MarÍa Teresa HernÁndez — March 26, 2024
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Now adults, they were found by their biological families years after their parents went missing when the military took power on March 24, 1976.
Pope Francis skips Palm Sunday homily at start of busy Holy Week that will test his health
By Nicole Winfield — March 26, 2024
ROME (AP) — The Holy Week schedule is challenging for popes even under the best of circumstances.
