Religion
President of the Association of National Olympic Committees's, ANOC, Robin Mitchell answers questions during a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. The president of Iran’s national Olympic committee claimed Thursday that competitive climber Elnaz Rekabi will not be punished or suspended after competing in South Korea over the weekend without wearing her nation’s mandatory headscarf. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Iran's Olympic chief claims no punishment coming for climber

By Kim Tong-Hyung Oct. 20, 2022 08:43 AM EDT

In this undated photo made available by Athletica Vaticana on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, Dutch-born cyclist Rien Schuurhuis, center, poses with his team in front of St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican. Schuurhuis will race for the Vatican in the Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022 road race at the cycling world championships in Wollongong, Australia. It's the first time that the Vatican has entered a team for the event. Chiara Porro, Schuurhuis' wife, is Australia's ambassador to the Holy See. (Ivan Sommonte/Athletica Vaticana)
Vatican cyclist spreading the pope's message at worlds

By Andrew Dampf Sep. 23, 2022 08:50 AM EDT

FILE- Brittany Bowe of the United States reacts after her heat in the women's speedskating 1,500-meter race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. “Nothing short of amazing,” said the U.S. speedskating bronze-medal winner, praising her China experience. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Human rights? China won that Winter Olympics battle. Almost.

By John Leicester Feb. 20, 2022 09:55 PM EST

The main entrance of the Tibet Hotel is seen behind a police vehicle parked outside the hotel at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in Beijing. People attending the Beijing Winter Olympics can't visit Tibet because they're in China's "closed loop" system for foreign visitors. But some visitors, including part of the Associated Press' Olympics team, are getting a taste of the region because they've been assigned to the Tibet Hotel. The hotel has been built and outfitted to evoke the remote region on China's western edge. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
BEIJING DIARY: A taste of Tibet with Chinese characteristics

By Kelvin Chan Feb. 11, 2022 07:52 PM EST

Vladyslav Heraskevych, of Ukraine, stands in the mixed zone after finishing the men's skeleton run 4 at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Olympics Live: IOC won't act on 'No War in Ukraine' sign

Feb. 10, 2022 08:29 PM EST

Fatih Arda Ipcioglu, of Turkey, adjusts his goggles during the men's normal hill individual ski jumping trial round at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, Pool)
Turkish ski jumper İpcioğlu mum on Uyghur statement

Feb. 06, 2022 07:59 AM EST

The Chinese national flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
In Beijing, Olympic ideals coexist with authoritarian rule

By Tim Sullivan Feb. 04, 2022 11:26 PM EST

Exile Tibetans hold a banner during a protest against Beijing winter Olympic Games in New Delhi, India, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. Hundreds of Tibetan exiles are marching outside the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, denouncing the Beijing Winter Olympics and demanding freedom for their region. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Tibetans in India demonstrate against Beijing Olympics

By Shonal Ganguly Feb. 04, 2022 02:46 AM EST

FILE - A 1988 photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency shows Communist Party Leader Xi Jinping, right, then secretary of the Ningde Prefecture Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), participates in farm work during his investigation in the countryside. Born in Beijing in 1953, Xi enjoyed a privileged youth as the second son of Xi Zhongxun, a former vice premier and guerrilla commander in the civil war that brought Mao Zedong's communist rebels to power in 1949. At 15, Xi Jinping was sent to rural Shaanxi province in 1969 as part of Mao's campaign to have educated urban young people learn from peasants. (AP Photo/Xinhua, File)
President Xi Jinping, China's 'chairman of everything'

By Joe Mcdonald Feb. 02, 2022 08:22 PM EST

Pope Francis, center, flanked by Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, left, and Monsignor Guido Marini, blesses the attendance at the end his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 02, 2022. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope hails Paralympians, refugee athletes in Olympic message

Feb. 02, 2022 08:21 AM EST

FILE - Chinese authorities test fireworks ahead of the Aug 8 start of the Olympic Games on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, Saturday, Aug 2, 2008. Richer, more heavily armed and openly confrontational, China has undergone history-making change since the last time it was an Olympic host in 2008. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
China 2008 vs 2022: Richer, stronger, more confrontational

By Joe Mcdonald Jan. 25, 2022 11:08 PM EST

France moves closer to banning veils in sports competitions

By Samuel Petrequin Jan. 19, 2022 05:31 AM EST
The French Senate has voted in favor of banning the wearing of headscarves in sports competitions, arguing that neutrality is a requirement on the field of play. ...

FILE - Kayla Harrison is shown during a PFL (Professional Fighters League) bout against Larissa Pacheco at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., in this Thursday, May 9, 2019, file photo. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison tries for another $1 million prize when she fights Taylor Guardado in the main event of the 2021 PFL Championships this week in Florida. (AP Photo/Greg Payan, File)
Harrison, now a mother of 2, fights for $1M PFL championship

By Dan Gelston Oct. 25, 2021 10:36 AM EDT

Residents wearing masks pass by the mascots for the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. When the International Olympic Committee awarded Beijing the 2008 Summer Olympics, it promised the Games could improve human rights and civil liberties in China. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Beijing Olympics open in 4 months; human rights talk absent

By Stephen Wade Oct. 04, 2021 11:14 AM EDT

Artem Dolgopyat, de Israel, posa tras ganar la medalla de oro en gimnasia artística en los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio, el domingo 1 de agosto de 2021. (AP Foto/Gregory Bull)
Olympian Dolgopyat arrives home to hero's welcome in Israel

By Laurie Kellman Aug. 03, 2021 07:31 AM EDT

Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, poses after winning the gold medal on the floor exercise during the artistic gymnastics men's apparatus final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Israel's Olympic gold victory raises Jewish identity debate

By Ilan Ben Zion Aug. 02, 2021 02:52 PM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2021, file photo, the logos for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics are seen during an exhibit at a visitors center at the Winter Olympic venues in Yanqing on the outskirts of Beijing. China on Thursday, July 8, 2021, criticized what it called the “politicization of sports” after British lawmakers urged a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics unless China allows an investigation of complaints of human rights abuses in its northwest.(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
China slams Olympic boycott call, 'politicization of sports'

Jul. 08, 2021 09:12 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2019, file photo, people walk past a display introducing winter sporting events for the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at a temple fair at Longtan Park in Beijing. Groups alleging human-rights abuses in China are calling for a full boycott of the Beijing Olympics, which is sure to ratchet up pressure on the International Olympic Committee, athletes, sponsors, and sports federations. A coalition of activists representing Uyghurs, Tibetans, residents of Hong Kong and others, issued a statement Monday, May 17, 2021 calling for the “full boycott,” eschewing lesser measures like “diplomatic boycotts" and negotiations with the IOC or China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
AP Exclusive: Full-blown boycott pushed for Beijing Olympics

By Stephen Wade May. 17, 2021 04:29 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 3, 2021, file photo, exile Tibetans use the Olympic Rings as a prop as they hold a street protest against the holding of 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in Dharmsala, India. Some kind of boycott is almost sure to affect next year’s Beijing Winter Olympics. It’s driven by the widely reported internment of several million Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China, which has been termed a genocide by numerous governments and human rights groups. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia, File)
EXPLAINER: What drives possible boycott of Beijing Olympics

By Stephen Wade Mar. 15, 2021 02:33 AM EDT

Visitors to Chongli, one of the venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, past by billboards promoting the event in Chongli in northern China's Hebei Province on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. China’s repression in Tibet, the status of the exiled Dalai Lama, and its treatment of ethnic minorities spurred violent protests ahead of Beijing’s 2008 Olympics. It could happen again. China is host to the 2022 Winter Olympics with rumblings of a boycott and calls to remove the games from Beijing because of widespread human rights violations. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Human rights groups ask IOC to move Olympics from China

By Stephen Wade Sep. 09, 2020 02:40 AM EDT