ISOLA DEL GRAN SASSO, Italy (AP) — Two children scribbled petitions to St. Gabriele dell’Addolorata in the vast sanctuary where the young saint is venerated in this central Italian mountain village. Andrea, 6, asked for blessings for his family and pets. Sofia, 9, gave thanks for winning a dance competition.Their parents bring them here often
CAPILLA DEL MONTE, Argentina (AP) — In the pope’s homeland, there’s a woman who believes in angels and calls them aliens. Another proudly identifies as a witch. And there’s a spiritual guru so turned off by the Vatican’s opulence that he left the church to help others connect spiritually outside organized religion.All three are former
ISOLA DEL GRAN SASSO, Italy (AP) — In small towns like this mountain one a couple of hours east of Rome, and all across Italy, life has changed over the last generation as the Catholic faith loses relevance in people’s routines and choices.From cradle to casket — from buying contraceptives at the pharmacy to gathering
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — In Uruguay, a nation of some 3.3 million people, more than half identify as “nones” — atheist, agnostic or other religiously unaffiliated — the highest portion in Latin America.Uruguay has a long history of secularization. In the early 20th century, new laws banned any mention of God in oaths of office
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant said it began releasing a second batch of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea on Thursday after the first round of discharges ended smoothly.Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said workers activated a pump to dilute the treated water with large amounts of seawater, slowly
TOKYO (AP) — Japan has issued a tsunami advisory after an earthquake near its outlying islands. Officials say a potential tsunami could reach one meter in height. The advisory, which appears to be the lowest level of warning, asks people on islands in the Izu chain, which stretches south from the center of the main
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s groundbreaking career in politics was documented in photos from the moment she was sworn in as San Francisco mayor in the aftermath of tragedy to her long-awaited return to the U.S. Senate after illness earlier this year.The pictures start in black and white, showing a young Feinstein
After a summer of record-smashing heat, warming somehow got even worse in September as Earth set a new mark for how far above normal temperatures were, the European climate agency reported Thursday. Last month’s average temperature was 0.93 degrees Celsius (1.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1991-2020 average for September. That’s the warmest margin above average
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An image of King Charles III will soon appear on Australian coins, more than a year after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, officials said Thursday.The gold Australian dollar coin will be the first with an image of the new British monarch, who is also Australia’s head of state
Maybe there’s too much Taylor, not enough Travis.Travis Kelce agreed Wednesday with the idea that NFL TV coverage has been “overdoing it” with the amount of times Taylor Swift has been on screen while attending his Kansas City Chiefs’ games the last two weeks.Swift was in a suite Sunday night at MetLife Stadium for the
