There has been a dramatic increase in the number of people unaffiliated with organized religion.

AP's religion team explores how this phenomenon is playing out in several countries, including regions where openly being a "none" is rare or even dangerous. projects.apnews.com/features/2023/… These so-called "nones" — atheists, agnostics, or "nothing in particular" — comprise 30% or more of the adult population in the U.S. and Canada, as well as numerous European countries. Large numbers are secular in Japan, Israel and Uruguay as well. apne.ws/QAEtH23

Russia has created a vast detention system across two countries to hold thousands of Ukrainian civilians.

An @AP investigation found routine torture, slave labor and psychological abuse within the system. apnews.com/article/ukrain… Nearly 100 police evidence photos from liberated regions were also obtained by @AP. They showed tools of torture, including the same ones repeatedly described by former civilian captives held in Russia and occupied regions. apnews.com/article/ukrain…

BREAKING: The U.S. Supreme Court rules colleges and universities must stop considering race in admissions, putting an end to affirmative action in higher education. https://t.co/jv4l1qxcyqapne.ws/IPmvUPv
The court's conservative majority overturned precedents reaching back 45 years in ruling against admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation's oldest private and public colleges, respectively. apnews.com/article/suprem…

The call came in at 10:59 p.m.

Muhammed Rashid could hear the panic in his wife’s voice and began recording the call.

It would be the last time he spoke with Setera Begum. apne.ws/UaZrZue Setera’s fateful journey began decades earlier when her family fled civil unrest and a repressive military regime in Myanmar. The persecution of ethnic Rohingya Muslims by the Buddhist majority has pushed more than one million Rohingya to Bangladesh. apne.ws/UaZrZue

Ten years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court halted what many consider the heart of the landmark law known as the Voting Rights Act. Now, the court is set to issue a ruling on whether it will be reinforced or further eroded. apnews.com/article/voting… The @AP spoke with six people who are part of a small, vanishing group that lived at the epicenter of the struggle for voting rights six decades ago. apnews.com/article/voting…

For many students, new measures restricting how schools address race, gender and sexuality are having deeply personal effects. Some students of color and LGBTQ+ kids feel like their very existence is being rejected. apne.ws/Nx8knLy Harmony Kennedy, 16, has experienced racism at her Tennessee school, where a classmate mocked the murder of George Floyd. To her, laws that could limit the teaching of Black history feel like a gut punch. apne.ws/p77SLXI

A decade-old Supreme Court ruling that dismantled the heart of the Voting Rights Act continues to reverberate across the country. Now, the court is expected to rule in a case that could make it more difficult for minority groups to sue over gerrymandering. apnews.com/article/voting… Key elements of the law have been reauthorized with bipartisan support five times since it was signed by then-President Lyndon Johnson, the most recent in 2006. apnews.com/article/voting…

In December, a boat carrying 180 Rohingya refugees set out from Bangladesh, bound for Indonesia. On board were babies, pregnant women and frightened children fleeing surging violence in Bangladesh's refugee camps.

One week later, the boat vanished. apnews.com/article/rohing… A haunting phone call placed from the boat’s satellite phone offered the first clue to the passengers' fate.

“Only half of it is still afloat!” a woman shouted into the phone. “Please pray for us!” apne.ws/7qGhxUa

A survey found that roughly half of young people of color had experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Experts say some of those symptoms can be rooted in racial trauma, distress that people of color experience from racism and discrimination. apnews.com/article/mental… Barriers to accessing mental health care also disproportionately deter Black teens.

While Black parents, clinicians and teens told @AP they feel stigma has lessened, individual experiences are still shaped by pressure to keep personal struggles private. apnews.com/article/mental…

About four million children in the U.S. suffer from asthma, but Black children are disproportionately affected.

More than 12% of Black children are afflicted by the disease, compared to 5.5% of white children. apnews.com/article/black-… While genetics play a role, research suggests that many of the same racist factors that afflict Black Americans’ health — historical redlining, access to health care and environmental toxic exposures — are significant drivers of asthma. apne.ws/svaBym7

It’s been one year since the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 students and two teachers, and relatives are still waiting for answers.

Veronica Mata, who lost her 10-year-old daughter, Tess, is one of them.
apnews.com/article/uvalde… Every day, the kindergarten teacher wonders how she would keep her students safe if a shooter were to enter her classroom as mass shootings across the country surpass record levels. apnews.com/article/uvalde…

BREAKING: Tina Turner, the unstoppable musical force with hits like 'What's Love Got to Do With It,' has died at age 83, her manager says.
bit.ly/3WDTykk Turner died Tuesday, after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, according to her manager. She became a Swiss citizen a decade ago. apnews.com/article/tina-t…

From birth to death, generations of Black Americans have endured alarming health inequities fueled by structural racism.

Some disparities begin in the womb, setting the stage for health issues that'll follow them throughout their lives. apnews.com/article/black-… Black babies are more likely to die as infants or be born prematurely in America.

Preterm birth is the leading cause of death for Black infants. Black women have the highest maternal mortality rate in the nation, almost three times the rate for white women.

Black Americans have higher rates of infant and maternal mortality, more difficulty finding mental health treatment and higher rates of asthma, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

This series explores how racism in America has contributed to those inequities. apnews.com/article/from-b… First: Birth.

Black women have the highest maternal mortality rate in the U.S., almost three times the rate for white women. Black babies are also more likely to die as infants. apnews.com/article/black-…

Before President Joe Biden and congressional leaders can even try to avert an unprecedented U.S. government default, their initial challenge will be to agree on what exactly they’re talking about as they hold their first substantive meeting in months. apnews.com/article/debt-l… Republicans are hoping to negotiate sweeping cuts to federal spending in exchange for allowing new borrowing to avoid default. Biden is set to reinforce his opposition to allowing the country’s full faith and credit to be held “hostage” to negotiations.
apnews.com/article/debt-l…

A team of @AP journalists arrived in Mariupol in late February 2022. By the time they left nearly three weeks later, the besieged Ukrainian port city lay in ruins.

Their work has been honored with the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. bit.ly/44RlSn0 The team of @AP journalists were documenting the agony of Mariupol when they learned their names were on a Russian list.

Journalist Mstyslav Chernov tells the story of their rescue by Ukrainian soldiers as the Russian forces closed in.

apnews.com/article/russia…

“My mission was to go inside the KKK for the FBI.”

The new true crime documentary — "Grand Knighthawk: Infiltrating the KKK," by @GStephanopoulos @abcnewsstudios and @AP, premieres today on @hulu. @GStephanopoulos @abcnewsstudios @hulu Based on an award-winning investigative @AP series, the true-crime documentary captures the infiltration of the klan in northern Florida by a former Army infantryman and includes exclusive new interviews with the FBI agents who oversaw the operation. apnews.com/article/white-…

Coming out of the pandemic, nonprofits are trying everything they can to recruit volunteers. This National Volunteer Week, the @AP spoke to five volunteers who shared what motivated them to get involved. apne.ws/70kCj6y For 16 years, Troy Brunet has volunteered with Project Homeless Connect in San Francisco and leads their initiative to give eyeglasses to those who need them. He also shares information about the organization wherever he goes and describes the joy of bringing volunteers together.

In a highly unusual ruling, a state court judge voided a U.S. Marine’s adoption of an Afghan war orphan, more than a year after he took the little girl away from the Afghan couple raising her. But her future remains uncertain. apnews.com/article/afghan… For now, the child will stay with Marine Maj. Joshua Mast and his wife, Stephanie, under a temporary custody order they obtained before the adoption. The Masts will have to re-prove to the court that they should be granted a permanent adoption. apnews.com/article/afghan…

Donald Trump is the first former U.S. president to be charged with a crime. The new era of legal risk may complicate his attempts to return to the White House.

🧵on what to know about the case, what happens next and other developments.
apnews.com/article/trump-… Every day, hundreds of people are taken into law enforcement custody in New York City. Former President Donald Trump is expected to become one of them as early as next week. Here’s what happens next:
apnews.com/article/trump-…

The merry-go-round is filled with children. But just a week ago, violence was steps away.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to see the destruction himself as part of a 48-hour train trip to rally his frontline troops. The @AP was there with him. apnews.com/article/zelens… “It's very dangerous.” Zelenskyy has picked up the pace of his travel in recent weeks, often pushing closer to the front.

But he doesn’t stay in one place for long. apne.ws/q4bEYQn