CAIRO (AP) — The spokesman of Egypt’s ultraconservative Islamist party told Israeli Army Radio in unprecedented remarks broadcast Wednesday that the group is not opposed to the country’s historic peace treaty with Israel. Yousseri Hamad’s interview with the Israeli broadcaster is unusual for followers of the Salafi Islamic trend, who typically shun Israel for its policies toward Palestinians and its annexation of east Jerusalem, home to Islam’s third-holiest site. The interview countered Israeli fears that Islamist parties would seek to... Read more

JERUSALEM (AP) — The top Roman Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land says he is concerned about the fate of Christians because of upheavals sweeping the Middle East. In his annual pre-Christmas address in Jerusalem, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal told his followers that he supports the changes taking place in favor of freedom and democracy and called on Christians to take part in the movements. He also said he was praying for authorities to “protect the minorities” in the region.... Read more

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Nearly 200 people, among them 15 foreigners, have been killed in clashes over the past few weeks between an ultraconservative Islamist group and former Shiite rebels in northern Yemen, a military official and the leader of the Islamist faction said Wednesday. In Moscow, Russia’s Foreign Minister said four Russian citizens were among those killed. The tension between the Salafi Islamists, who are Sunni, and the former Hawthi rebels, who are Shiite, escalated just as Yemeni President... Read more

ATLANTA (AP) — A group of American college students stands in a semicircle, clapping and hopping on one foot as they sing in Yiddish: “Az der rebe zingt, Zingen ale khsidim!” “When the rebbe dances, so do all the Hasidim,” the lyrics go. This isn’t music appreciation or even a class at a synagogue. It’s the first semester of Yiddish at Emory University in Atlanta — one of just a handful of college programs across the country studying the Germanic-based... Read more

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine court has rejected a request by arrested ex-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to celebrate Christmas at home and use her cellphone and laptop in detention. Judge Jesus Mupas of the Pasay Regional Trial Court cited security reasons Wednesday for denying Arroyo’s request to leave a military hospital where she is detained on electoral fraud charges. She wanted to celebrate Christmas and New Year at her upscale home. Mupas, however, will allow her family, children and... Read more

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — As Nazi troops imposed their terror on Warsaw, an 18-year-old Polish girl slipped into a Warsaw church with an elderly rabbi to teach him how to dip his hand in holy water and cross himself. The rabbi, his newly shaven beard leaving his cheeks white, approached the lesson with gravity, skimming the water in the church font and crossing himself with slow reverence, hoping this would help him pass as Catholic. “You’ve already exposed yourself! You’re... Read more

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Dutch government says it will tighten standards on the ritual slaughter of animals by cutting their throats without stunning, as required by ancient Jewish and Muslim dietary traditions, but will not ban the practice outright. A proposed ban had passed Parliament’s lower house earlier this year with support from animal rights and anti-Islam political parties, but the plan fell apart in the Senate this month over freedom of religion concerns. Undersecretary for Agriculture Hans Bleker’s office... Read more

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The founders of Neve Shaanan, a neighborhood in southern Tel Aviv, planned their streets in the shape of a seven-branched candelabra — a symbol of their Jewish faith. Ninety years later, the streets are full of Christmas decorations, reflecting a flowering of Christianity in Israel’s economic and cultural capital. Tens of thousands of Christian foreigners, most of them laborers from the Philippines and African asylum seekers, have poured into the neighborhood in recent years. They... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s ruling military escalated its tone against pro-democracy activists Wednesday, warning of an attempt to “topple the state,” as government media said a plot had been uncovered to use upcoming protests to throw the country into a civil war. The statements stepped up a campaign by the military that has seemed intended to demonize protesters in the eyes of the Egyptian public. The warnings could signal a heavier crackdown on activists who demand that the generals who... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood, which is leading in parliament elections that continued Wednesday, refused to join calls by secular and liberal activists for the ruling military to move up its handover of power to civilians. Activists are seeking to capitalize on anger over the military’s heavy-handed crackdown on protesters in Cairo the past week to pressure the ruling generals to step down before the current target of the end of June. The military, which took power after... Read more