During Carnival, the small Brazilian town of Sao Luiz do Paraitinga’s calm everyday life transforms into a joyful party known for its deep-rooted traditions, giant puppets and songs known in Portuguese as ‘marchinhas.

The ancient tradition of the Bell People in the Greek village of Distomo marks the end of carnival.

Israel has introduced what it said was a new U.S. ceasefire plan and is trying to force Hamas to accept it by imposing a siege on the Gaza Strip.

Arab foreign ministers are meeting in Cairo for talks focusing on an Egyptian plan to rebuild the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, which is meant to counter President Donald Trump’s proposal to expel Palestinians from the coastal enclave and take it over.

The Vatican says that Pope Francis has suffered two new episodes of acute respiratory crises and has been put back on noninvasive mechanical ventilation.

The Vatican says Pope Francis has remained in stable condition and didn’t need any mechanical ventilation.

Israel faces sharp criticism after barring the entry of all food and other supplies into Gaza.

As Pope Francis remains hospitalized, a group of migrant transgender women are praying for his recovery.

Some restaurants and coffee shops in Syria were closed during the day as observant Muslims began fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

Brazil’s Carnival revelry is ramping up, from the raucous street parties to the glitzy parades.

A senior Hamas official says “no progress” has been made in the latest round of talks on the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Pakistani authorities are offering a reward for information about a suicide bomber who attacked a mosque in the northwest and killed seven people.

Pope Francis remained in stable condition a day after a respiratory crisis.

There has long been a Vatican taboo against openly talking about a conclave when a pope is sick: It’s considered gauche to speculate about the election of a new pope while the current one is fighting for his life.

Vice President JD Vance acknowledged Pope Francis’ criticism of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

Negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas are taking place in Cairo.

Police in northwestern Pakistan say a suicide bomb attack on a mosque at a pro-Taliban seminary has killed a senior cleric and five other worshippers and wounded many other people ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan.

The Vatican says Pope Francis suffered a coughing fit that resulted in him breathing in vomit, requiring non-invasive mechanical ventilation.

Nearly 40,000 Palestinians driven from their homes by Israel's month-long offensive in the West Bank have scattered across nearby villages and towns, trying to find shelter.

“Conclave” author Robert Harris isn’t staying up to watch the Oscars.

Cardinal Robert McElroy, the bishop of San Diego who is preparing to take over as archbishop of Washington, D.

The 2025 Carnival Season -- marked by a weekslong pre-Lenten bash and complete with colorful parades, shimmery beads tossed from floats and streets lined with costumed revelers -- is reaching its conclusion on the Gulf Coast.

Pope Francis is continuing his slow recovery from double pneumonia and beating back speculation of an imminent death, resignation or conclave.

As Ramadan approaches, keeping healthy fasting practices in mind can make the month more meaningful.

With Morocco’s sheep herds dwindling at an alarming rate, King Mohammed VI made a rare break with tradition by urging families to forgo buying sheep to sacrifice during the upcoming Eid Al-Adha.

The Vatican says that Pope Francis continues to improve from double pneumonia Thursday, though doctors say he needs more days of “clinical stability” before they revise their guarded prognosis.

Thai and Chinese officials have confirmed that a group of 40 Uyghur men detained in Thailand for more than a decade have been deported to China.

Hamas handed over the remains of another four hostages early Thursday and Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt says negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the ceasefire in Gaza have begun in Cairo.

Egypt says negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire have begun in Cairo.

The Mennonite population being affected by a measles outbreak in West Texas is part of a larger, loosely affiliated group of churches worldwide with varied beliefs and leadership structures — and with sometimes strained or distant relations with public authorities.

Observant Muslims worldwide will soon be united in a ritual of daily fasting from dawn to sunset as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts.

The number of Americans who identify as Christian has declined steadily for years, but that drop shows signs of slowing.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have lined highways holding flags, orange balloons and signs saying “forgive us” in an outpouring of grief as the bodies of a mother and her two small sons who were killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip were taken for burial.

Hamas has handed over the bodies of four hostages in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, days before the first phase of their ceasefire will end.

The Vatican says Pope Francis has shown further slight improvement as he battles double pneumonia, but doctors still say his prognosis is still guarded.

The families of hostages still in Gaza are struggling to maintain hope they'll see their loved ones soon as uncertainty swirls over the future of the fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli and Hamas officials say they have reached an agreement to exchange the bodies of dead hostages for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The Vatican says that Pope Francis remains in critical but stable condition.

Thousands of people have gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray for an ailing Pope Francis, expressing sorrow for his suffering, hope for his recovery and gratitude for his efforts to steer the Catholic Church in new directions.

Palestinians who returned to their homes in northern Gaza after the ceasefire began on Jan. 19 are still struggling to find shelter, food, water and other necessities.

The first phase of the ceasefire that paused 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas militants is set to end on Saturday.

A federal judge on Monday blocked immigration agents from conducting enforcement operations in houses of worship for Quakers and a handful of other religious groups.

Two men are on trial in Zambia on charges of practicing witchcraft and possessing charms intended to harm the country’s president.

The Vatican says Pope Francis remains in critical condition but has shown slight improvement in laboratory tests.

The Vatican has detailed laws and rituals to ensure the transfer of power when a pope dies or resigns, but not when he is sick.

Israeli tanks have moved into the occupied West Bank for the first time in decades in what Palestinian authorities call a “dangerous escalation.”.

The Vatican says Pope Francis remains in critical condition and blood tests show early kidney failure but he remains alert and “well-oriented.”.

Each Sunday, Johann Teran goes to worship at a bilingual Lutheran service in suburban Minneapolis.

The Vatican says Pope Francis is in critical condition after he suffered a long asthmatic respiratory crisis that required high flows of oxygen.

Israel says the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners is delayed “until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies” at handovers of Israeli captives in Gaza.

Members of Masjid Al-Taqwa, a mosque which burned down in one of the recent Los Angeles-area wildfires, are scrambling to find a space where they can gather, pray and support one another during the holy month of Ramadan.

Pope Francis’ medical team says the pontiff's condition isn’t life-threatening.

Hamas has released the names of six living Israeli hostages who the militants plan to release from Gaza this weekend under the terms of the ceasefire deal.

A federal judge has refused to immediately block the Trump administration’s abrupt halt to funding of the nation’s largest private refugee resettlement program.

The pope looms so large in everyday Italian life that there are lots of expressions that make light of even a dark event like his death.

Legend has it the axolotl was not always an amphibian.

Hamas has released four bodies they said were Israeli hostages, including two young children who were long feared dead and have symbolized the nation’s agony following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Hamas handed over the remains of four more Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The bodies of the youngest Israelis held hostage by the militant Hamas group have been returned to Israel, dashing the hopes of a nation hoping for a happier ending.

The Vatican says that Pope Francis’ clinical condition is “improving slightly,” adding that he went about his work activities from the hospital where he is recovering from pneumonia.

The Israeli military says the remains of two child hostages have been identified but another body released by Hamas was not the boys’ mother.

An Israeli official says the bodies of the youngest and one of the oldest captives seized by Hamas during the attack that ignited the war in Gaza are expected to be returned on Thursday.

An Israeli official said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a close confidant to lead negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire with Hamas.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has visited Pope Francis in the hospital and says he’s “alert and responsive” and full of good humor despite his pneumonia.

Catholic bishops are suing the Trump administration over its abrupt halt to funding of refugee resettlement, calling the action unlawful and harmful to newly arrived refugees and to the nation’s largest private resettlement program.

Amnesty International is urging French lawmakers to reject a bill this week that would ban headscarves in all sporting competitions.

Hamas says it will release six living Israeli hostages instead of three on Saturday, as well as the bodies of four others on Thursday.

The Vatican says Pope Francis has developed pneumonia in both his lungs, after new tests showed a further complication in the condition of the 88-year-old pope.

Israeli forces have withdrawn from border villages in southern Lebanon under a deadline spelled out in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.

Vatican authorities said Monday that Pope Francis has a complex infection in his respiratory system and will require more targeted drug treatment.

The Vatican says Pope Francis’ respiratory tract infection is presenting a “complex clinical picture” that will require further hospitalization.

Israelis have marked 500 days of war in Gaza with protests demanding further progress on a ceasefire so all remaining hostages can be returned.

Monday is the 500th day of the war triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel.

The Vatican says Pope Francis is stable and that he followed Mass on television after a second night sleeping well at the hospital.

At least 18 people, including 14 women, were killed in a stampede at a railway station in India’s capital of New Delhi.

Doctors have prescribed “absolute rest” for Pope Francis to help him recover from a respiratory tract infection.

Israel and Hamas have completed their sixth exchange of hostages and prisoners after their ceasefire survived its latest crisis.

Two bottles of Kentucky bourbon autographed by Pope Francis have brought in thousands of dollars for charity.

After nearly 500 days in captivity in Gaza, with little access to media, recently freed hostages have many questions.

The families of Israeli hostages still held by the Hamas militant group have welcomed the “joyous news” that three men, all taken from the same kibbutz on Oct. 7, 2023, are expected to be freed on Saturday.

The Vatican says that Pope Francis is in “fair condition” at a hospital with a respiratory tract infection and is running a mild fever.

Preliminary tests show Pope Francis has a respiratory tract infection.

Researchers who sniffed mummified remains in the name of science were greeted more with a blessing than a curse.

Christianity is by far the largest faith in America, and Christian conservatives have a strong grip on the levers of government.

The militant group Hamas says it will free three Israeli hostages as planned this weekend.

Hamas says it will release the next group of three Israeli hostages as planned.

Congo’s largest church organizations have met with Rwanda-backed rebels in the country’s east to advocate for peace and dialogue after weekslong fighting.

Israel’s defense minister says “all hell will break loose” if Hamas does not release three hostages as planned this weekend.

Christian aid groups are being hard-hit after the Trump administration froze most foreign aid and sidelined the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Three weeks into the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the number of tents and temporary homes entering Gaza risks falling short of the goals set for the deal’s first phase.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators are working to salvage the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which risks being derailed because of a dispute between the two sides.

Families of the hostages in Gaza are struggling to maintain hope as the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seems increasingly at risk of falling apart.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of an influential Peruvian bishop, who has come under criticism for not doing enough to stop abuses committed by a conservative Catholic movement that was recently disbanded by the Vatican.

Iraq’s top court has thrown out a legal challenge that had temporarily halted three controversial laws passed last month by the country’s parliament.

More than two-dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans have filed a federal court lawsuit challenging a Trump administration move giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at houses of worship.

The U.S. border czar has pushed back against Pope Francis' criticism of the U.S. mass deportation of migrants plan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and resume its war against Hamas if the militant group does not go ahead with the next scheduled release of hostages this weekend.

A spokesperson for Hamas says it will delay the next hostage release after accusing Israel of violating a ceasefire agreement.

The Vatican's charity is voicing outrage at what it calls the “reckless” and “unhuman” U.S. plans to gut USAID.