TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran said Sunday that two newly constructed satellites have passed pre-launch tests and will be transported to the nation's space center for eventual launch, without elaborating.

EL TERRÓN, Panama (AP) — Bibles rest on a wooden altar next to percussion instruments — a guiro and a drum — in the room where a religious sect allegedly forced a pregnant woman and five of her children to walk through fire in this remote hamlet.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Thousands of St. Louis-area families were freed from a major financial burden thanks to a charitable effort that is increasingly popular among churches and other organizations trying to help the needy — eliminating medical debt.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Supreme Court that seems more favorable to religion-based discrimination claims is set to hear a case that could make it easier to use public money to pay for religious schooling in many states.

EL TERRÓN, Panama (AP) — Indigenous farmer Josué González recalled how his pregnant wife and children were taken from their home by cult members in the remote hamlet of El Terrón in Panama.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Outrage rained on Brazil's government from across the political spectrum after the culture secretary used language similar to that of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels in launching an arts initiative focused on nationalism and religion, forcing President Jair Bolsonaro …

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — In the eight years since he became a pastor at First Immanuel Baptist Church, Todd Johnson says he's seen his congregation's politics make a subtle shift.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will consider allowing the Trump administration to enforce rules that allow more employers to deny insurance coverage for contraceptives to women.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court will consider Trump administration rules expanding religious, moral exemptions from contraceptive coverage.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The president of a predominantly black St. Louis police union said Wednesday that the city prosecutor’s lawsuit is correct in pointing out racial concerns in St. Louis, including biases within the police department itself.

KARBALA, Iraq (AP) — Iraq's most powerful cleric was discharged Friday from a hospital following a risky surgery for a fractured bone and returned to his home in southern Iraq, medical officials said.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Hundreds of demonstrators perched themselves on the steps of an iconic mosque in the Indian capital on Friday to protest against a new citizenship law that excludes Muslim immigrants.

WITTENBERG, Germany (AP) — High on the wall of a German church where Martin Luther once preached, an ugly remnant of centuries of anti-Semitism is now at the center of a court battle.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Selfies on a “Women for Trump” bus tour through Iowa. Volunteer training at a “Black Voices for Trump” organizing session in Philadelphia. A vice presidential headliner at a "Latinos for Trump” event in Florida.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A Bangladeshi island regularly submerged by monsoon rains is ready to house 100,000 Rohingya refugees, but no date has been announced to relocate people from the crowded and squalid camps where they've lived for years, officials said Thursday.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A review commissioned by the Archdiocese of Anchorage found credible evidence of sexual misconduct by 14 people who served in the archdiocese dating to 1966, a church leader announced Thursday.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Marilyn Del Valle climbed to her feet at the Nacion de Fe church in Kissimmee on Thursday, clapping and taking photos as Vice President Mike Pence took the stage.

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Seven people were killed in a bizarre religious ritual in a jungle community in Panama, in which indigenous residents were rounded up by about 10 lay preachers and tortured, beaten, burned and hacked with machetes to make them "repent their sins,” authorities said Thursday.

In a bid to solidify his evangelical base, President Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to protect prayer in public schools and took new steps to give religious organizations easier access to federal programs.

NEW CITY, N.Y. (AP) — The man charged in an attack at a suburban New York Hanukkah celebration that left five people wounded, one critically, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges on Thursday.

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian authorities released four people Thursday, including two Egyptian journalists, arrested in a police raid on the Cairo bureau of Turkey's state-run news agency, a judicial official said.

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — The mocking of a Ugandan imam who unknowingly married a man in a Muslim ceremony highlights intolerance in the East African country, a gay rights activist said Thursday.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Religious-nationalist parties in Israel joined forces late Wednesday ahead of the country's unprecedented third straight election in one year.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China’s U.N. ambassador warned Wednesday against further escalation between India and Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region and expressed hope that a Security Council meeting called by Beijing will encourage both countries to seek a solution through dialogue.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Wednesday expanding the definition of terrorism under state law in response to last month's fatal attack on a kosher market in Jersey City.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's state-run news agency said Wednesday that Egyptian police raided its office in Cairo and detained four of its staff members.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's outgoing prime minister said Wednesday it was up to the next government to see through parliament's decision to oust U.S. troops.

The third edition of the “Bad Boys” franchise starts as it must do: With a gleaming Porsche swerving at impossible speeds through Miami traffic under the expert control of Will Smith, with Martin Lawrence growing very sick beside him.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations' top court announced Wednesday that it will issue a decision next week on a request to order Myanmar to halt what has been cast as a genocidal campaign against the southeast Asian country's Rohingya Muslim minority.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has tapped an Italian lawyer to be the first woman to hold a management position in the Vatican’s most important office, the Secretariat of State.

BEIJING (AP) — China has blasted a report from Human Rights Watch that accused it of constructing a surveillance state at home while seeking to silence critics abroad.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pat Cipollone doesn’t seem like Donald Trump’s kind of fixer.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Roman Catholic Church in Mexico called on the country’s government Tuesday to modify the legal code and do away with statutes of limitations for sexual abuse of minors.

(RNS) — The 16 United Methodist bishops and advocacy group leaders who negotiated a recent proposal to split the denomination explained their reasoning at an event that was streamed live by United Methodist News Service.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday that he'll sign into law a measure that would assure continued taxpayer funding of faith-based foster care and adoption agencies even if they exclude LGBT families and others based on religious beliefs.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Ahead of Vice President Mike Pence's Latinos for Trump rally in central Florida, state Democrats have paid for a billboard showing an image of the president tossing paper towels at a Puerto Rican church after the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Ever since Benedict XVI announced he would become the first pope in 600 years to resign, Catholic theologians, canon lawyers and others warned of the potential confusion in having two popes living side by side in the Vatican, one reigning, the other retired but calling hi…

LYON, France (AP) — A former priest detailed Tuesday how he systematically abused boys over two decades as a French scout chaplain, and said his superiors knew about his “abnormal” behavior as far back as the 1970s.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Catholic Church has removed Mexican Fernando Martínez from the priesthood after considering him guilty of various sexual abuse crimes against minors, the Legion of Christ religious order said Monday.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The two people who fatally shot a police officer then killed three people at a kosher grocery in Jersey City planned an assault for some time and were equipped to cause greater destruction, authorities said Monday.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey lawmakers postponed an expected vote on a bill to eliminate most religious exemptions for vaccines for schoolchildren saying they lacked the votes, and leading to raucous cheers from opponents who had encircled the Statehouse with flags, bullhorns and banners.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday gave Texas' highest civilian honor to a 71-year-old man who shot and killed an armed attacker at a church in December.