MILWAUKEE (AP) — About 550 people have filed claims for restitution for alleged sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee — the most of the eight dioceses in the U.S. that have sought bankruptcy protection, a lawyer in the Milwaukee case said Wednesday. James Stang, a bankruptcy lawyer who represents creditors in the Wisconsin case, estimated about 550 claims had been filed by the Wednesday afternoon deadline set by the court. The Milwaukee Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection... Read more

TACOMA, Washington (AP) — A federal judge is considering whether Washington state can require pharmacies to stock and sell Plan B or other emergency contraceptives, even in the face of religious objections by druggists who believe they destroy human life. U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton heard closing arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that claims state rules violate the constitutional rights of pharmacists by requiring them to dispense such medicine. The state requires them to dispense any medication for which there... Read more

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A federal judge is considering whether Washington state can require pharmacies to stock and sell Plan B or other emergency contraceptives, even in the face of religious objections by druggists who believe they destroy human life. U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton heard closing arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that claims state rules violate the constitutional rights of pharmacists by requiring them to dispense such medicine. The state requires them to dispense any medication for which there... Read more

Jesus at mountaintop ski resort in US allowed to stay after feds reverse statue’s eviction HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A mountaintop Jesus statue can stay at a ski resort in the western U.S. state of Montana — for now. The religious statue, which has been on federal land since 1955, was allowed to remain in place for at least 10 more years after the U.S. Forest Service reversed its eviction order Tuesday. The initial decision came amid heated debate over... Read more

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — It’s usually well after midnight before Bahrain takes a breather. The thud of riot police stun grenades trails off, the stinging tear gas mist is carried away and the protest chants against the Gulf kingdom’s rulers go quiet until the next day. Then the cycle of unrest resumes in one of the longest-running — and perhaps most diplomatically complex — chapters of the Middle East uprisings. “Egypt, Tunisia, Libya,” demonstrators now shout during running battles with... Read more

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (AP) — Five years after an animal rights group complained about the treatment of chickens at an egg farm run by a Roman Catholic abbey in South Carolina, the monks are now earning their daily bread by growing mushrooms. It hasn’t been easy or without frustration. “It’s been very much of a journey with a very long learning curve and we didn’t know exactly how it would all turn out,” said Brother John Corrigan, who oversees the... Read more

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Vandals have targeted an Orthodox church and a historic mosque in Macedonia, the latest in a string of incidents after carnival-goers mocked Muslims. Police said Wednesday a church in Tetovo, an ethnic Albanian Muslim town west of the capital Skopje, suffered minor damage in an overnight arson attack. In the country’s second-largest city of Bitola, which is mostly inhabited by majority Orthodox Christian Macedonians, offensive graffiti was painted on the walls of a 16th- century mosque.... Read more

MADALLA, Nigeria (AP) — A Catholic church in Nigeria still in mourning after a Christmas Day bombing by a radical Islamist sect buried its dead Wednesday amid wails of grief and under the watch of security agencies that still fear more violence. Neatly dug graves awaited the corpses in a vacant dirt lot in the church’s compound, now turned into a mass tomb. Church officials said that of at least 44 people who died in the violence at St. Theresa... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — A narrow stadium exit turned into a death trap. Crowds of Egyptian soccer fans fleeing supporters of the opposing team armed with knives, clubs and stones rushed into the corridor, only to be crushed against a locked gate, their rivals attacking from behind, survivors and witnesses said. The result was the world’s worst soccer violence in 15 years, with 74 people crushed, suffocated or stabbed to death. Many Egyptians, from the public to lawmakers, on Thursday blamed... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday issued a harsh denunciation of liberal and secular activists, echoing charges by the military rulers that they receive foreign funds to create chaos in Egypt. The statement came a day after Brotherhood members clashed with protesters outside the parliament building in Cairo. The protesters were demanding an end to military rule. Lines of young Brotherhood members gathered outside the parliament, saying they were defending it in case protesters stormed it. The... Read more