OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A Canadian Roman Catholic bishop charged with importing child pornography has apologized in court. Raymond Lahey spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday since he was charged in 2009 with possessing and importing child pornography. He told the court on the third day of his sentencing hearing that his addiction to Internet porn went against his moral principles. He was caught at an Ontario airport in 2009 with hundreds of pornographic photos of young boys on... Read more

CLEVELAND (AP) — Twelve members of a breakaway Amish group have been charged with federal hate crimes in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish. The seven-count indictment against Samuel Mullet and 11 relatives or members of his group was announced Tuesday in Cleveland by federal prosecutors. The charges include conspiracy, assault and evidence tampering in what prosecutors say were hate crimes motivated by religious differences. The five attacks between September and November involved cutting women’s hair and men’s beards and hair.... Read more

HONOLULU (AP) — The second Vatican-authenticated miracle in allowing a nun to soon become St. Marianne Cope involves the healing of a New York woman who had an infection disease destroying her organs. Details on the purported miracle were revealed for the first time Tuesday by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities in Syracuse, New York. They say a bag of soil containing Marianne’s bone fragments from the Hawaii peninsula where leprosy patients were exiled was pinned... Read more

CLEVELAND (AP) — Twelve members of a breakaway Amish group have been charged with federal hate crimes in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in eastern Ohio farm country. The seven-count indictment against Samuel Mullet and 11 relatives or members of his group was announced Tuesday in Cleveland by federal prosecutors. The charges include conspiracy, assault and evidence tampering in what prosecutors say were hate crimes motivated by religious differences. The five attacks between September and November involved cutting women’s hair... Read more

___ EGYPT Thousands of Egyptian women march in the streets of Cairo, protesting abuse by soldiers who dragged women by the hair, stomped on them and stripped one half naked while cracking down on anti-military protesters in scenes that shocked many in the conservative society. The march Is a rare protest by women, and its numbers — about 10,000 by some estimates — underline the depth of anger over the images from the fierce crackdown over the past five days... Read more

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s Shiite prime minister told Kurdish authorities Wednesday to hand over the Sunni vice president, who fled to the semiautonomous region to escape an arrest warrant on charges he ran hit squads targeting government officials. The charges, leveled a day after the last American troops left Iraq, have opened up a new round of the Shiite-Sunni sectarian tensions that pushed the country to the brink of civil war just a few years ago. Tariq Al-Hashemi, the country’s... Read more

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — “American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta will take a break from his singing career to serve a two-year proselytizing mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The contestant from the 2007-2008 season made the announcement during a Christmas concert Monday in downtown Salt Lake City, according to the Deseret News. The 20-year-old Miami native, who grew up in Murray, Utah, said he’s not quitting music, but feels a strong call to serve the... Read more

URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — A prominent Christian conservative group in Iowa is not endorsing a Republican candidate for president, underscoring the divisions among influential evangelicals in the state whose leadoff caucuses are just two weeks away. Bob Vander Plaats, president of The Family Leader, on Tuesday endorsed former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. The board itself couldn’t agree on a single candidate and issued no endorsement. Iowa social conservatives had rallied around 2008 caucus winner Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor.... Read more

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — American Idol David runner-up Archuleta says he will take a break from his singing career to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The contestant from the 2007 season made the announcement during a Christmas concert Monday in downtown Salt Lake City. The Deseret News reports (http://bit.ly/tpQhzU) that the 20-year-old Utah resident says he’s not quitting music, but feels a strong call to serve the church. A video of... Read more

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A juvenile court judge in Brazil’s northeastern state of Alagoas has sentenced three priests for sexually abusing minors for years. Monsignor Luiz Marques Barbosa was sentenced to 21 years in prison on Monday, while Monsignor Raimundo Gomes and priest Edilson Duarte were given 16 years and four months in prison. Three former altar boys said they were between 12 and 16 when they began to be assaulted. Prosecutors said the priests kept the boys quiet... Read more