BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Activists were gathering in Budapest on Monday to protest the way their center-right government has used the law and the country’s new constitution to exert its control over issues as varied as the economy, religious freedom and age discrimination. The opposition parties and civic groups were holding the anti-government demonstration near the State Opera, where Hungary’s top leaders will be attending a gala celebrating the constitution on Monday night. The activists say Prime Minister Viktor Orban... Read more

HAVANA (AP) — A body of top Afro-Cuban priests is predicting a year of change and upheaval in 2012, but the group says fears the world will end are wrong. In their annual New Year’s forecast, the priests warned the world could see more earthquakes and increased global warming, and they cautioned that people should also be vigilant against matrimonial discord. That may not be a very cheery message, but it’s a lot better than the fire-and-brimstone prophecies that that... Read more

FONDA, New York (AP) — Rural New York is looking forward to being the home of two of the Roman Catholic Church’s newest saints. The Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk Indian, spent most of her life in the region during the 17th century. About 200 years later, the Blessed Mother Marianne Cope began a religious life that focused on providing medical care. On Dec. 20, Pope Benedict XVI certified miracles attributed to the two women, the final step toward sainthood.... Read more

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The chief Palestinian peace negotiator said Monday his first meeting with Israelis in more than a year will be a last-ditch effort to salvage the peace process and warned that the Palestinians would explore alternatives if no progress is made. Saeb Erekat said he was holding out hope for Tuesday’s meeting in Jordan, but acknowledged his expectations were low as he reiterated his long-standing demand for an Israeli freeze on settlement construction. Without a breakthrough,... Read more

FONDA, N.Y. (AP) — No one making a religious pilgrimage to Catholic shrines in this scenic yet hardscrabble stretch of New York’s Mohawk Valley is going to mistake it for Italy. Yet starting next year, the region can boast of being the home of two of the Roman Catholic Church’s newest saints. The Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk Indian, spent most of her life here during the 17th century. About 200 years later and 40 miles to the west, the... Read more

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia said Monday it will begin enforcing a law that allows only females to work in women’s lingerie and apparel stores, despite disapproval from the country’s top cleric. The 2006 law banning men from working in female apparel and cosmetic stores has never been put into effect, partly because of view of hard-liners in the religious establishment, who oppose the whole idea of women working where men and women congregate together, like malls. Saudi... Read more

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s parliament speaker warned Monday that human rights violations are putting the country’s fragile democracy at risk, the latest pronouncement in a rapidly developing sectarian spat that threatens to destabilize the country after U.S. troops pulled out. The televised comments by Osama al-Nujaifi, one of the country’s top Sunni officials, are the latest salvo in a growing political crisis sparked when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government issued an arrest warrant for the country’s top Sunni politician last... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — A police security tower rose into the sky Monday, keeping watch over a globally prominent Islamic cultural center that was firebombed amid a handful of attacks being investigated as possibly linked bias crimes. Police, who had made no arrests, released a sketch of a suspect and a videotape from a surveillance camera at a private house that was one of the targets. The video shows a car pulling up Sunday night. Someone suddenly appears, lifts his... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Police on Monday were working to determine whether a series of suspected arson attacks against an Islamic cultural center and three other locations in Queens were linked, and they were investigating the incidents as possible bias crimes. No one was injured in the four Sunday evening attacks, though some of the damage may be extensive. No arrests have been made. Police said at least three Molotov cocktails were thrown, though some did not explode. At 8... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities are investigating four fire attacks in New York City, including one at an Islamic center and one at a house used for Hindu worship. Police say three attacks Sunday night involved molotov cocktails. There were no injuries. Police are investigating the attacks as bias crimes. Governor Andrew Cuomo says the attacks “have no place in our open and inclusive society.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations says about 80 worshippers were inside the Imam Al-Khoei Foundation... Read more