Pope Francis called Monday for a fresh start for Roma and Sinti communities, telling traveller families from around the world they could break free of prejudice by not falling into crime.
 

Work to restore a monastery on the divided island of Cyprus has brought Turkish Cypriots together with Greek Cypriots, and Muslims with Christians.

The angry public reaction to the attacks on Mosul’s cultural history — including the eviction of Christians by militants, which outraged many Muslim residents who celebrate Mosul’s reputation for tolerance — appears to be the first spark of rebellion against harsh Islamic rule.

From the earliest days of his papacy, when he walked slowly into a grand reception hall in the Apostolic Palace for his first meeting with a curious diplomatic corps, Pope Francis has promoted a fairly conventional foreign policy agenda: fight poverty, pursue peace, bridge ecumenical or interreligious divisions and protect the environment. 

Hours after a Sudanese court sentenced his pregnant wife to death when she refused to recant her Christian faith, her husband told CNN he feels helpless.  "The fact that a woman could be sentenced to death for her religious choice, and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion, is abhorrent and should never be even considered," Manar Idriss, Amnesty International's Sudan researcher, said in a statement.

Malaysian Film Censorship chairman said Darren Aronofsky's film Noah is not being screened in Malaysia -- whose population is 60 percent Muslim -- to protect the harmony and sensitivity of the country's multiracial community.

With the current sectarian climate in the Middle East, it is rare to find events that host voices from across the region's sectarian and religious divides. But just a few days ago, a small window opened up in Doha. British-Yemeni journalist Abubakr al-Shamahi reports.