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FILE - Israeli far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir gestures after election exit poll results are released at his party's headquarters in Jerusalem on Nov. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Oren Ziv, File)

Israeli security minister who taunted flotilla activists has a record of extreme actions

Julia Frankel And Melanie Lidman, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 12:32 PM CDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s far-right national security minister has a long history as a provocateur. This week, Itamar Ben-Gvir sparked global outrage after promoting a video of himself taunting activists from a flotilla to Gaza who were detained by his police force.

Denied entry into the military as a teenager because of his extreme views, the 50-year-old Ben-Gvir nevertheless rose to become one of the most powerful people in the country after operating for decades within its far-right fringes.

His tactics drew a backlash this week, as foreign leaders — and even coalition partner Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — condemned his on-camera treatment of some 430 detainees from the Global Sumud Flotilla.

In one clip, Ben-Gvir is seen waving a large Israeli flag over hunched-over detainees whose hands appear to be bound. In another, he taunts a kneeling detainee whose wrists are zip-tied, yelling “Am Yisrael Chai” at him — Hebrew for “The nation of Israel lives.” In another, the detainees can be seen — foreheads to the floor of an outdoor pen — as the Israeli national anthem plays and armed guards encircle them.

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Faith

Two people pray during a vigil, the day after a shooting, outside of the Islamic Center of San Diego, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The teens who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego were latest to cite prior atrocities

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

The teens who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego were latest to cite prior atrocities

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 9:46 PM CDT

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

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In rambling writings full of vitriol against a wide range of people, the teenagers who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego this week, killing three men and themselves, left little doubt about the models for their violence.

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Updated: 9:46 PM CDT

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Giovanni Galizia poses with the 'Calendario Romano' calendar that has for two decades been a bestseller in Rome’s souvenir shops, at his home in Verona, Italy, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Holy deception: Rome’s ‘sexy priest’ calendar star never set foot in a seminary

Colleen Barry And Paolo Santalucia, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Holy deception: Rome’s ‘sexy priest’ calendar star never set foot in a seminary

Colleen Barry And Paolo Santalucia, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 8:38 PM CDT

ROME (AP) — A calendar featuring close-ups of young, handsome men in priestly attire has been a perennial Rome souvenir for the last two decades — but few, it seems, are actually men of the cloth.

Giovanni Galizia has been the cover shot for the so-called sexy priest calendar for many of the last 23 editions. In the same photo used year after year, Galizia wears a clerical collar and flashes an enigmatic smile worthy of the Mona Lisa against the granite wall of a church in his native Palermo.

“It was the smile of an embarrassed kid, because I saw all my friends in front of me laughing out loud because I was dressed like I was a priest,” Galizia told The Associated Press during an interview Wednesday in his Verona living room.

For Galizia, the shoot was a lark that left no mark on his life, until a story in the Rome daily La Repubblica this week revealed that the “sexy priest calendar” could be more accurately called “the fake priest calendar,” drawing nationwide attention.

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Updated: Yesterday at 8:38 PM CDT

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Police use a water cannon to disperse ultra-Orthodox Jewish men blocking a street during a protest against army recruitment in Jerusalem, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Netanyahu’s coalition alliances with religious parties put his reelection at risk

Melanie Lidman, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Netanyahu’s coalition alliances with religious parties put his reelection at risk

Melanie Lidman, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 4:25 AM CDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remained in power for most of the past 17 years due in part to a tight alliance with ultra-Orthodox religious parties.

But that alliance is tearing apart his governing coalition and proving to be another major liability for the long-serving Israeli leader as the country heads to elections later this year. The Oct. 7, 2023, attack — and the inconclusive wars that have followed — are also weighing on him.

After 2 1/2 years of active fighting in multiple countries, much of it involving reservists, many Israelis are tired of a longstanding system that has allowed ultra-Orthodox men to skip military service. That anger has spread to Netanyahu’s own base.

The ultra-Orthodox are meanwhile furious at his failure to legalize their exemptions. They withdrew their support for the coalition two weeks ago, leading to an initial vote to dissolve parliament, known as the Knesset, on Wednesday.

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Updated: 4:25 AM CDT

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Israel's Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir in the Israeli parliament, during a session considering a bill to dissolve the government in Jerusalem,Wednesday, May 20,2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Netanyahu scolds Israeli security minister for releasing videos taunting detained flotilla activists

Natalie Melzer And Menelaos Hadjicostis, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Netanyahu scolds Israeli security minister for releasing videos taunting detained flotilla activists

Natalie Melzer And Menelaos Hadjicostis, The Associated Press 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:44 PM CDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's national security minister drew a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and triggered a backlash abroad Wednesday, after releasing videos taunting detained flotilla activists who tried to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza, telling them they should be imprisoned for a long time.

Netanyahu said that although Israel has every right to stop “provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters,” the way National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir dealt with the activists was “not in line with Israel's values and norms.”

Ben-Gvir released videos Wednesday showing him walking among some of the approximately 430 detainees. In one, activists with their hands tied behind their backs are kneeling, their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area and on the deck of a ship.

“Welcome to Israel, we are the landlords,” says Ben-Gvir, waving a large Israeli flag. One handcuffed activist shouts “Free Palestine” as Ben-Gvir walks by and is immediately pushed to the ground by security personnel.

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Updated: Yesterday at 2:44 PM CDT

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People embrace outside of the Islamic Center of San Diego, the day after a shooting, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in San Diego. (Jae C. Hong / The Associated Press)

Security upgrades considered at city mosques after U.S. tragedy

Josiah Neufeld 3 minute read Preview

Security upgrades considered at city mosques after U.S. tragedy

Josiah Neufeld 3 minute read Tuesday, May. 19, 2026

Muslims in Winnipeg are shaken and weighing safety precautions after gunmen opened fire at a U.S. mosque Monday, killing three people.

Two teenage gunmen launched the assault inside a San Diego, Calif., mosque before taking their own lives. A note left behind by the killers contained hate speech, police said.

“A lot of people are worried — fathers and mothers and kids,” said Noris Zeid, a vice-chair of the Manitoba Islamic Association.

Khawja Latif, who regularly attends the Winnipeg Grand Mosque on Waverley Street, worries about the safety of people who come to the place of worship to pray five times a day and for the children who attend school in the building.

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Tuesday, May. 19, 2026

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People embrace near the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Community grieves the 3 men killed while defending San Diego mosque

Jaimie Ding, Ty Oneil And Safiyah Riddle, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Community grieves the 3 men killed while defending San Diego mosque

Jaimie Ding, Ty Oneil And Safiyah Riddle, The Associated Press 6 minute read Tuesday, May. 19, 2026

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The three people killed by two teen shooters at a San Diego mosque were beloved pillars of the community, and died while saving roughly 140 children who were in the building at the time of the attack, authorities said Tuesday.

All three men were shot while trying to delay and distract the two gunmen who barged into the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said.

The Imam of the Islamic Center of San Diego, Taha Hassane, identified the three victims as Amin Abdullah, 51, Nadir Awad, 57, and Mansour Kaziha, 78, who was known as Abu Ezz.

“We call them our brothers in the community. We call them our martyrs and our heroes,” Hassane said.

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Tuesday, May. 19, 2026

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FILE - President Donald Trump, center, applauds as Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, left, and Bulgaria's Prime Minister Rossen Jeliazkov, right, hold up their signed Board of Peace charter during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Board of Peace will ask the UN Security Council to press Hamas to disarm

Jamey Keaten And Elena Becatoros, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Board of Peace will ask the UN Security Council to press Hamas to disarm

Jamey Keaten And Elena Becatoros, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:18 AM CDT

GENEVA (AP) — The body overseeing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza will ask the United Nations Security Council to press the Hamas militant group to disarm, according to a report seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The report by the Board of Peace, an international body set up by U.S. President Donald Trump and tasked with overseeing the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, is expected to be discussed by the Security Council on Thursday when it meets on the situation in the Middle East.

“At this stage, the principal obstacle to full implementation (of the ceasefire) remains Hamas’ refusal to accept verified decommissioning, relinquish coercive control, and permit a genuine civilian transition in Gaza,” the report said.

Hamas in a statement rejected the report and said it contains “fallacies.”

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:18 AM CDT

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People embrace near the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego mosque shooters met online and left writings expressing hate, FBI says

Julie Watson, Michael Biesecker And John Seewer, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

San Diego mosque shooters met online and left writings expressing hate, FBI says

Julie Watson, Michael Biesecker And John Seewer, The Associated Press 6 minute read Tuesday, May. 19, 2026

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two teenagers who shot and killed three people in an attack on a California mosque were radicalized online where they first met and shared white supremacist views, according to authorities and writings they authored.

The pair “didn’t discriminate on who they hated,” Mark Remily, the lead FBI agent in San Diego, said Tuesday.

The writings, obtained by The Associated Press, include hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims and Islam, as well as the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, women, and both the political left and right. Both express beliefs that white people are being eliminated, and one writes about mental health struggles and being rejected by women.

Investigators also found at least 30 guns, ammunition and a crossbow at two residences after Monday's attack in San Diego and were trying to uncover whether the shooters had broader plans, Remily said. The shooters, Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, killed themselves, according to police.

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Tuesday, May. 19, 2026

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Professional mourners grieve alongside family members and friends of the deceased during a funeral on the outskirts of Kisumu, Kenya, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Asa Wallin)

Kenya’s professional mourners help grieving families and keep tradition alive

Åsa Wallin, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Kenya’s professional mourners help grieving families and keep tradition alive

Åsa Wallin, The Associated Press 4 minute read Tuesday, May. 19, 2026

KISUMU, Kenya (AP) — The body of Tom Ochieng Mima is dressed in formal funeral finery, casket shaded from the hot western Kenyan sun as family and friends of the late 64-year-old settle into plastic chairs beneath white tents just off the roadside.

Wails pierce the air in a mix of lyrical song and unrestrained cries; a group of mourners wave leafy branches and beat them against the ground in a rhythm. A performance like this would not seem out of place at many funerals around the world — at first glance.

But this group of men and women never knew Mima, nor are they friends of his bereaved loved ones. They are professional mourners who are hired to openly and loudly express grief in line with local Luo cultural norms.

The role is an unlikely but relatively steady and well-paid job in Kenya’s poorer western regions, where traditional beliefs blend with widespread Christianity to create a unique patchwork of religious rites.

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Tuesday, May. 19, 2026

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Police stage on a roof at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

What to know about a deadly attack by teen gunmen on a San Diego mosque

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

What to know about a deadly attack by teen gunmen on a San Diego mosque

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press 4 minute read Tuesday, May. 19, 2026

An attack by two teenagers on a San Diego mosque left a community mourning its victims, Muslim leaders calling for increased security and investigators parsing white supremacist writings by the suspects that expressed hate toward various religions and races.

The teens killed three men and then themselves after trying to storm the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday. A mosque leader said the attack could have been much worse if not for one of the victims — a beloved security guard — shooting back and using his radio to initiate a lockdown, helping to keep the attackers away from the 140 children who were just steps away.

Investigators said Tuesday they recovered more than 30 firearms and ammunition as they searched homes associated with the teens.

Here's what to know about the attack.

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Tuesday, May. 19, 2026

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Police stage at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

A grim list: Some notable attacks on US houses of worship in recent years

The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

A grim list: Some notable attacks on US houses of worship in recent years

The Associated Press 3 minute read Monday, May. 18, 2026

Statistically, attending a weekly worship service is a remarkably safe thing to do. Global annual attendance totals many billions; the number of people killed in attacks on individual houses of worship in any given year is generally less than a few hundred. Killings in the U.S. are even more rare.

But an attack on Monday targeting a mosque in San Diego — the latest in a spate of recent attacks targeting religious buildings — has intensified fear among clergy and worshippers.

Here are some of the notable attacks on U.S. houses of worship in the past 15 years:

May 18, 2026: Two teenage suspects opened fire at the largest mosque in San Diego County on Monday, killing a security guard and two other men before killing themselves, authorities said. The case is being investigated as a hate crime.

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Monday, May. 18, 2026

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A sheriff's deputy stages at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Police: Two suspects kill 3 people at a San Diego mosque before killing themselves

The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Police: Two suspects kill 3 people at a San Diego mosque before killing themselves

The Associated Press 6 minute read Monday, May. 18, 2026

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two teenage suspects killed three men in a shooting at a San Diego mosque Monday before killing themselves a few blocks away, authorities said. Police Chief Scott Wahl said a security guard at the Islamic Center of San Diego was among those killed and that the case is being investigated as a hate crime.

About two hours before the attack, the mother of one of the suspects called police to report that her son was missing, Wahl told a news conference. She feared he might be suicidal, and she eventually realized that several of her weapons were missing, along with her vehicle.

The case became even more urgent when police learned that he was dressed in camouflage and that he was in the company of an acquaintance, and officers began using whatever technology they had available to locate the teens, including automated license plate readers.

Wahl said that’s when police began getting reports of a shooting.

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Monday, May. 18, 2026

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Police stage at the scene of a shooting outside the Islamic Center of San Diego Monday, May 18, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Teenage gunmen open fire on San Diego mosque, killing 3 men and then themselves

Julie Watson And Eugene Johnson, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Teenage gunmen open fire on San Diego mosque, killing 3 men and then themselves

Julie Watson And Eugene Johnson, The Associated Press 4 minute read Monday, May. 18, 2026

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Two teenage shooters opened fire at a San Diego mosque on Monday and killed three men — then killed themselves a few blocks away — in an attack police are investigating as a hate crime.

There was no specific threat made against the Islamic Center of San Diego but authorities found evidence that the suspects engaged in “generalized hate rhetoric," San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said. He declined to give more details, but said the “circumstances that led up to this” would come out in the days ahead.

Before the attack, officers were already looking for one of the teenagers since his mother called police concerned that her son was suicidal and had run away, Wahl said. There were weapons missing from the home and the mother's vehicle was gone, he added.

The search took on even more urgency as police learned that he was dressed in camouflage and with an acquaintance — details that were unexpected for someone about to die by suicide, he said.

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Monday, May. 18, 2026

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Pope Leo XIV delivers his blessing as he recites the Regina Coeli noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope and co-founder of Anthropic to launch pontiff’s AI encyclical on May 25

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Pope and co-founder of Anthropic to launch pontiff’s AI encyclical on May 25

Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press 4 minute read Monday, May. 18, 2026

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV and the co-founder of artificial intelligence company Anthropic will launch the pontiff’s first encyclical on May 25, a document on the care of human dignity in the era of AI, the Vatican said Monday.

Anthropic has billed itself as the AI company that puts safety and risk-mitigation at the forefront of its research. As a result, the presence of Anthropic's Christopher Olah at the Vatican is significant, and suggests that the U.S. pope's position on AI will become a new flashpoint with the Trump administration.

In February, the Trump administration ordered all U.S. agencies to stop using Anthropic’s artificial intelligence technology and imposed other major penalties for refusing to allow the U.S. military unrestricted use of its AI technology. Anthropic is currently suing the administration, which it has accused of retaliating against it illegally because of its attempt to impose limits on how its AI technology can be deployed.

Leo, who has made AI a priority of his young pontificate, is greatly concerned about AI in warfare and has called for monitoring of how the technology is used.

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Monday, May. 18, 2026

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A guest dressed as Abraham Lincoln attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Thousands flocked to the National Mall in Washington for an America-themed prayer rally

Tiffany Stanley, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Thousands flocked to the National Mall in Washington for an America-themed prayer rally

Tiffany Stanley, The Associated Press 5 minute read Sunday, May. 17, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall for a daylong prayer rally Sunday billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation under God.”

Against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, worship music blared from a stage that made clear the event’s Christian focus. Arched stained-glass windows, set underneath grand columns resembling a federal building, depicted the nation’s founders alongside a white cross.

Most speakers celebrated Christianity’s ties to American history, a blending of ideas that critics flagged ahead of the prayer gathering as supporting Christian nationalism.

President Donald Trump read a passage of Scripture in a video shown at the rally. Filmed in the Oval Office, it was the same footage used during a marathon Bible-reading event last month. The verses from 2 Chronicles are often cited by those who believe America was founded as a Christian nation.

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Sunday, May. 17, 2026

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