BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The secretary general of the Council of Europe says Hungary’s church law gives a “generous framework” for religious activity but some of its provisions are problematic. Thorbjorn Jagland says that since Parliament now decides which religious groups are recognized as churches, the issue “can be politicized, which is not in accordance with the normal standards we have in Europe today.” Jagland said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that he expects Hungary to... Read more

BEIRUT (AP) — The “extremely dangerous” conflict in Syria could have global repercussions, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday as fresh violence erupted and an al-Qaida-inspired group claimed responsibility for two recent suicide bombings in the capital. The uprising that began a year ago has transformed into an armed insurgency that is pushing the country toward civil war. Because of Syria’s close alliances with Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, there are deep concerns that the violence could spread... Read more

For more than a year the deadly protests have swept the Tibetan plateau, waves of people burning themselves alive in a widening challenge to Chinese rule. The prime minister of Tibet’s government-in-exile calls them acts of desperation. The Dalai Lama says they give China an excuse for even harsher crackdowns. But to many Tibetans, they are carefully reasoned attempts to bring attention to an often-forgotten cause. “These are intelligent people who knew what they were doing,” said Tenzin Choekyi of... Read more

For more than a year the deadly protests have swept the Tibetan plateau, waves of people burning themselves alive in a widening challenge to Chinese rule. The prime minister of Tibet’s government-in-exile calls them acts of desperation. The Dalai Lama says they give China an excuse for even harsher crackdowns. But to many Tibetans, they are carefully reasoned attempts to bring attention to an often-forgotten cause. “These are intelligent people who knew what they were doing,” said Tenzin Choekyi of... Read more

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Mexico this week to a very public reminder of one of the Catholic Church’s most egregious sex abuse scandals: A new book says internal Vatican documents show the Holy See knew decades ago of allegations that the Mexican founder of the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order was a drug addict and pedophile. The documentation has been compiled in a book “La voluntad de no saber” (“The will to not know”),... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — Nabil Gergis, a Coptic Christian, lived for nearly two decades in the Egyptian town of Amriya, raising his children and managing a modest business. Those ties couldn’t protect him after a sex video purportedly showing his brother with a Muslim woman began to circulate. Angry residents in the conservative, Muslim-majority town held protests and set fire to the Gergis family businesses. None of the attackers was prosecuted. Instead, a committee of tribal elders, local lawmakers and security... Read more

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — At some point before dawn, the vandals struck with brutal efficiency, smashing the windows at one of Bahrain’s oldest Shiite mosques. Then the attackers walked over the broken shards to ransack offices and prayer areas — making sure to pull down some framed parchments with Quranic verses. The attack last week, described by scholars and custodians of the centuries-old site, was quickly overshadowed by another wave of clashes in Bahrain’s 13-month-old uprising by the kingdom’s Shiite... Read more

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) — An exhibit of wax statues depicting some of Shiite Muslims’ most beloved clerics, aimed at paying tribute to this Iraqi holy city’s contributions to culture, has been dipped in controversy as some Sunnis decry the figures as heretical. The wax sculptures are due to be displayed at a museum in Najaf, but even before the exhibit opens, some Sunni Muslims — rarely shy about highlighting their religious differences with Shiites — are denouncing them as a... Read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters hunting for a candidate who can defeat President Barack Obama and with the proper experience helped vault Mitt Romney to victory Tuesday in Illinois’ presidential primary, according to results of an exit poll of voters. His win was also powered by robust margins from people worried about the economy and federal deficits. Main challenger Rick Santorum ran strongly among people who want their contender to be a true conservative and to exhibit strong moral character, and... Read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters hunting a candidate who can defeat President Barack Obama and with the proper experience helped vault Mitt Romney to victory Tuesday in Illinois’ presidential primary, according to preliminary results of an exit poll of voters. His win was also powered by robust margins from people worried about the economy and federal deficits. Main challenger Rick Santorum ran strongly among people who want their contender to be a true conservative and to exhibit strong moral character, and... Read more