BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s Shiite spiritual leader on Friday demanded the country’s politicians work to restore security, saying their conflicts were to blame for attacks like the devastating bombings that tore through mostly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and killed at least 69 people. The calls by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, made by his representative in a Friday prayer sermon, implicitly hit on the political showdown between the Shiite prime minister and the top Sunni political leader in the country, against... Read more

MALE, Maldives (AP) — Thousands in the Maldives protested Friday, calling on the government to halt what they called “anti-Islamic” activities, including a plan to allow direct flights to Israel. More moderate supporters of the president rallied as well as debate swells over the future of the state’s religion. The Indian Ocean archipelago of 300,000 Muslims prohibits practicing any other faith. The protesters want authorities to stop the sale of alcohol in the islands, shut down brothels operating in the... Read more

MALE, Maldives (AP) — Thousands of Maldivians are protesting in the state’s capital calling on the government to enforce strict Islamic law while government supporters are holding a counter rally against what they call religious extremism. More than 3,000 people are gathered Friday heeding a call by opposition Adhaalat or Justice Party and several other religious groups that accuse President Mohammed Nasheed’s government of compromising principles of Islam. Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party also holds a meeting to defend a “moderate”... Read more

MALE, Maldives (AP) — Thousands of Maldivians protested Friday in the capital calling on the government to enforce strict Islamic law, while government supporters held a counter rally against what they call religious extremism. More than 3,000 people heeded a protest call by the opposition Adhaalat, or Justice, Party and several other religious groups that accuse President Mohammed Nasheed’s government of compromising principles of Islam. “Islamic Shariah is equal to peace,” read some placards carried by protesters. “We elected you... Read more

PRAGUE (AP) — Czechs and world leaders paid emotional tribute to Vaclav Havel on Friday at a pomp-filled funeral ceremony, ending a week of public grief and nostalgia over the death of the dissident playwright who led the 1989 revolution that toppled four decades of communist rule. Bells tolled from churches while a wailing siren brought the country to a standstill in a minute of silence for the nation’s first democratically-elected president after the nonviolent “Velvet Revolution.” Havel’s wife Dagmar,... Read more

Angels don’t just sing at Christmastime. For most Americans, they’re a year-round presence. A new Associated Press-GfK poll shows that 77 percent of adults believe these ethereal beings are real. Belief is primarily tied to religion, with 88 percent of Christians, 95 percent of evangelical Christians and 94 percent of those who attend weekly religious services of any sort saying they believe in angels. But belief in angels is fairly widespread even among the less religious. A majority of non-Christians... Read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Why do kids believe a chubby guy in a flying sleigh can deliver joy across America? Because their parents do. A whopping 84 percent of grown-ups were once children who trusted in Santa’s magic, and lots cling to it still. Things are changing fast these days, with toddlers wishing for iPads, grade schoolers emailing their Christmas lists and moms wrestling over bargain toys at midnight sales. Despite all the pressures on the rituals of the season, an... Read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Why do kids believe a chubby guy in a flying sleigh can deliver joy across America? Because their parents do. A whopping 84 percent of grown-ups were once children who trusted in Santa’s magic, and lots cling to it still. Things are changing fast these days, with toddlers wishing for iPads, grade schoolers emailing their Christmas lists and moms wrestling over bargain toys at midnight sales. Despite all the pressures on the rituals of the season, an... Read more

BETHLEHEM, Conn. (AP) — In the little town of Bethlehem, a cloistered nun whose luminous blue eyes entranced Elvis Presley in his first on-screen movie kiss is praying for a Christmas miracle. Dolores Hart, who walked away from Hollywood stardom in 1963 to become a nun in rural Bethlehem, Conn., now finds herself back in the spotlight. But this time it’s all about serving the King of Kings, not smooching the King of Rock and Roll. The former brass factory... Read more

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Two car bombers blew themselves up Friday outside the heavily guarded compounds of Syria’s intelligence agencies, killing at least 44 people and wounding dozens more in a brazen attack on the powerful security directorates, authorities said. State-run TV said the al-Qaida terrorist network was possibly to blame for the first suicide car bombings in the nine-month uprising against authoritarian President Bashar Assad. The opposition, however, immediately questioned the government’s account and hinted the regime itself could... Read more