CAIRO (AP) – He is the grandson of an influential Shiite cleric, born in Qom – the heart of religious studies in Iran – and raised in a traditional family that embraced the theocracy. But by his late 20s, he had stopped praying and given up on clerical rule. Now, he can barely discuss politics or religion with his siblings and father.

Editorials from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and others

NEW YORK (AP) – Yahm Levin is a diehard Democrat who lives in one of the nation’s most liberal cities. And yet the 39-year-old Jewish woman from Los Angeles is sometimes afraid to use her first or last name when meeting people – even those who share her progressive politics.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a seven-year prison sentence for former President Yoon Suk Yeol in the first case to reach the country’s highest court from his several criminal trials related to his brief imposition of martial law in 2024.

BEIRUT (AP) – A deal between Lebanon and Israel was billed as paving the way for peace. But in Lebanon, it is deepening longtime divisions and raising fears of political paralysis or even a return to civil war.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – The global chemical weapons watchdog on Thursday reinstated Syria’s voting rights at the body, rewarding Damascus for “constructive engagement” with the organization and a willingness to destroy previously hidden stockpiles of toxic munitions.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – Democrats in Maine began jockeying Thursday to become the new candidate for a pivotal U.S. Senate seat after progressive nominee Graham Platner announced he will withdraw from the race after a sexual assault allegation.

WASHINGTON (AP) – A former Olympic canoe racer pleaded not guilty on Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power.