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Members of the Shinto priesthood try to push down a sacred timber from a wheeled platform at the end of Mihishirogi Hoeishiki, a ceremony of the Shikinen Sengu ritual to rebuild the shrine's main structures for Shinto deities, at the Ise Jingu shrine complex, in Ise, central Japan, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Photos show historic Japanese shrine that is torn down and rebuilt every 20 years

11:11 PM on Monday, September 22

Shinto priests march into the main palace of Toyoukedaijingu, also known as Geku, or the outer sanctuary, of the Ise Jingu shrine complex as they begin Yamaguchisai, a kickoff ceremony of Shikinen Sengu, concluding in 2033, in Ise, central Japan, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Takeaways from AP's report on Japan's most sacred shrine, rebuilt every 20 years for a millennium

11:09 PM on Monday, September 22

Every two decades for the last 1,300 years, Japan’s most revered Shinto shrine of Ise Jingu has been knocked down and rebuilt from scratch

FILE - Displaced Palestinians return to Rafah, Gaza Strip, Jan. 20, 2025, a day after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi, File)

More experts see genocide in Israel's wartime conduct in Gaza

11:05 PM on Monday, September 22

A growing number of experts have said Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip amounts to genocide, deepening Israel’s isolation and risking untold damage to the country’s standing even among allies

Priests and officials in the Shinto priesthood march during Yamaguchisai, a kickoff ceremony of the Shikinen Sengu ritual, which concludes in 2033, at Kotaijingu, also known as Naiku, or the inner sanctuary, of the Jingu shrine complex in Ise, central Japan, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

Japan's most sacred Shinto shrine has been rebuilt every 20 years for more than a millennium

11:02 PM on Monday, September 22

Each generation, Ise Jingu, Japan’s most revered Shinto shrine, is knocked down and rebuilt from scratch, a massive, $390 million demolition and construction job that takes about nine years

People listen to a worship song in the overflow area outside before a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Some admirers of Charlie Kirk hope response to his death signals start of a religious revival

2:22 PM on Monday, September 22

With Vice President JD Vance calling Charlie Kirk “a martyr for Christianity,” some Kirk admirers suggest his assassination will galvanize throngs of people — notably young conservatives — to become more engaged in evangelical and Catholic churches

Hak Ja Han, bottom center, the leader of South Korea's Unification Church, arrives at Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Unification Church leader arrested in bribery case involving former South Korean president's wife

1:28 PM on Monday, September 22

The 82-year-old leader of the Unification Church has been arrested in an investigation into allegations that the church bribed the wife of jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol and a conservative lawmaker

FILE - A view of the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in Manhattan, N.Y., where the Second Circuit Court of Appeals is seated, on Oct. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Federal appeals court reinstates Vermont Christian school after it objected to transgender player

12:35 PM on Monday, September 22

A federal appeals court has ruled that a Vermont Christian school can participate in the state's sports league

A priest blesses motorcyclists' helmets during the 10th Pilgrimage of the Blessing of Helmets that draws tens of thousands, at the Roman Catholic holy shrine of Fatima, in Fatima, Portugal, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Thousands of motorcyclists converge on Portuguese shrine for annual Blessing of the Helmets

7:58 AM on Monday, September 22

Motorcycle rallies often bring to mind beer and rock 'n' roll

FILE - Cardinal Angelo Becciu attends the consistory inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Aug. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

Defense in Vatican 'trial of the century' asks prosecutor to recuse himself for questionable conduct

7:48 AM on Monday, September 22

Defense lawyers in the Holy See’s “trial of the century” have asked the Vatican prosecutor to recuse himself from the appeals trial

Amal Al-Qishawi, follows her injured son, Yasser, 11, carried on a bicycle by his father Rafiq Al-Qishawi, as they flee northern Gaza Strip walking along the coastal road, near Wadi Gaza, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The Latest: Israeli army orders evacuation of a Gaza City hospital as world leaders gather at the UN

3:58 AM on Monday, September 22

Israeli forces are showing no signs of relenting on their new ground offensive in Gaza City as world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and more countries prepare to join the surge of nations recognizing a Palestinian state

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (not shown) hold a joint press conference at the Prime Minister's Office, during Rubio's visit, in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP, File)

How Israel could retaliate against the growing push for recognition of a Palestinian state

10:26 AM on Sunday, September 21

France and Saudi Arabia hope to use this year’s United Nations General Assembly and the increasingly horrific war in the Gaza Strip to inject new urgency into the quest for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Smoke rises following an explosion in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli strikes kill more than 40 people in Gaza, say health officials, ahead of UN meeting

4:11 AM on Sunday, September 21

Health officials say Israeli strikes in Gaza City overnight and at a refugee camp have killed more than 40 people, including 19 women and children

FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks as he hosts representatives of the Civil Nuclear industry at a reception at Lancaster House in London, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025 to mark the announcement of a new UK-US partnership on nuclear.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool, File)

UK, Australia and Canada recognize a Palestinian state, prompting anger from Israel

3:21 AM on Sunday, September 21

The U.K., Australia and Canada have formally recognized a Palestinian state, prompting an angry response from Israel

A young member of the Afro-Bolivian community dances the “saya,” a traditional dance performed with drums and chants, as part of the celebrations to mark the upcoming National Day of Afro-Bolivian people, in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Afro-descendants in Bolivia fight invisibility with dance and memory

12:07 AM on Sunday, September 21

Afro-Bolivians, though recognized in their country's 2009 constitution, remain among Bolivia’s most invisible groups

People listen as Erika Kirk speaks at a memorial for her late husband conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Trump officials praise Charlie Kirk's faith and his mark on the conservative movement

11:01 PM on Saturday, September 20

President Donald Trump and his supporters have paid tribute to conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a memorial service in Arizona

Holding a banner with a message in Hebrew asking for help, relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip take part in protest demanding their release from Hamas captivity and calling for an end to the war, outside the Old City of Jerusalem, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israeli strikes kill 14 in Gaza City as some countries prepare to recognize Palestinian state

5:24 AM on Saturday, September 20

Israeli strikes have killed at least 14 people overnight in Gaza City, according to health officials

FILE - Public relations expert Francesca Chaouqui walks past two Vatican Gendarmi as she leaves the Vatican during a pause of her trial, March 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

Texts reveal behind-the-scenes maneuvering of the Vatican’s ‘trial of the century’

1:08 AM on Saturday, September 20

When the appeals trial opens Monday in the Vatican's “trial of the century,” thousands of pages of WhatsApp text messages will be taking center stage

FILE — Cardinal Angelo Becciu talks to journalists during news conference in Rome, Sept. 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

After explosive revelations, Vatican trial heads to appeals phase

12:45 AM on Saturday, September 20

The Vatican’s “trial of the century” is heading into the appeals phase

Ayman Soliman is greeted by a supporter as he arrives for a news conference at the Clifton Mosque in Cincinnati, on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, after being released from ICE custody. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Tears of joy as Egyptian immigrant and Cincinnati chaplain is released from detention

5:54 PM on Friday, September 19

An Egyptian immigrant and chaplain in Cincinnati has been released after weeks in detention

David Catalunya, a Valencian musician and musicologist displays an 11th-century organ that researchers say is the oldest in the Christian world was played for the first time in 800 years after restoration, in Saint Savior's Monastery of Jerusalem's Old City, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

The oldest pipe organ in the Christian world sounds after 800 years of silence

9:14 AM on Tuesday, September 9

After 800 years of silence, a pipe organ that researchers say is the oldest in the Christian world has roared back to life at a monastery in Jerusalem’s Old City

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