Marriage
Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, poses after winning the gold medal after 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/Ashley Landis)
Olympian Dolgopyat arrives home to hero's welcome in Israel

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

Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, left, celebrates 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. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Israel's Olympic gold victory raises Jewish identity debate

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

Maria Belen Perez Maurice of Argentina, left, and Anna Marton of Hungary compete in the women's individual round of 32 Sabre competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 26, 2021, in Chiba, Japan. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Olympic fencing loss parried by love and marriage proposal

Jul. 26, 2021 08:13 AM EDT

In this photo provided by USA Softball, Jake and Janie Reed pose for a photo in Clearwater, Fla., in February 2020. Getting ready to reach the height of softball and make her Olympic debut for the United States, Janie Reed was on a training field at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, in Western Japan. Across the Pacific Ocean, 7,452 miles away, another important family first was unfolding in Miami: husband Jake Reed was about to walk onto a major league mound for the first time. (Jade Hewitt/Courtesy of USA Softball)
Games people play: A marriage of majors and the Olympics

By Ronald Blum Jul. 24, 2021 09:07 AM EDT

From left, Silvia Sinani, 24, Dijana Ferhatovic, 18, Zivka Ferhatovic, 20, Elma Dalipi, 14, Selma Dalipi, 14, and Zlata Ristic, 27, members of the Pretty Loud band, walk along a street in their neighborhood in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. A female Roma, or Gypsy, band in Serbia has used music to preach women's empowerment within their community. Formed in 2014, “Pretty Loud” symbolically seeks to give a louder voice to Roma girls, encourage education and steer them away from the widespread custom of early marriage. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)
Serbian Roma girl band sings for women's empowerment

By Jovana Gec Jun. 22, 2021 02:51 AM EDT

FILE - In this March 15, 2021, file photo, demonstrators gather on the steps of the Montana State Capitol protesting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Helena, Mont. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill Friday, May 7, 2021, banning transgender athletes from participating in school and university sports according to the gender with which they identify, making Montana one of several Republican-controlled states to approve such measures in 2021. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)=MTHEL
In US, Pride Month festivities muted by political setbacks

By David Crary Jun. 11, 2021 10:05 AM EDT

FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2005, file photo, Bill Gates, founder and chairman of Microsoft Corp., center, and his wife Melinda, left, walk on a street in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The couple announced Monday, May 3, 2021, that they are divorcing. The Microsoft co-founder and his wife, with whom he launched the world's largest charitable foundation, said they would continue to work together at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (AP Photo/Gazi Sarwar, File)
Bill and Melinda Gates announce they are getting divorced

By Sally Ho May. 03, 2021 06:25 PM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2019 fle photo, Alaska Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka addresses reporters in Anchorage, Alaska. Tshibaka a candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska previously wrote articles in support of an organization that espoused gay conversion therapy, questioned the integrity of elections and described the "Twilight" books and movies as evil. Many of the past articles, blogs and posts from candidate Tshibaka have been deleted but some are available through archived internet pages, as first reported Tuesday, April 27, 2021, by CNN. The CNN article, Tshibaka said in an email to The Associated Press, "is just proof that our campaign is gaining momentum, which has Lisa Murkowski and her allies scared to death. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen,File)
Alaska candidate shadowed by anti-gay article, election post

By Mark Thiessen Apr. 27, 2021 07:24 PM EDT

Javier Anto, 90, prays in front of his wife Carmen Panzano, 92, through the window separating the nursing home from the street in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. Since the pandemic struck, a glass pane has separated _ and united _ Javier and Carmen for the first prolonged period of their six-decade marriage. Anto has made coming to the street-level window that looks into the nursing home where his wife, since it was closed to visits when COVID-19 struck Spain last spring. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Spain: Parted couple overcome pain of pandemic through glass

By Emilio Morenatti Apr. 21, 2021 10:15 AM EDT

Rami Aman, a Palestinian Gazan peace activist, recalls his ordeal, during an interview on the roof of his family house in Gaza City, Feb. 10, 2021. After months of torture and interrogations in a Hamas prison, Aman says he was offered an unconventional proposition: Divorce your wife and you are free to go. Aman had recently signed a marriage contract with the daughter of a Hamas official, and the ruling Islamic militant group apparently wanted to dispel any insinuation that it supported Aman’s outreach to Israeli peace activists. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Gaza man says Hamas forced him to divorce after torture

By Fares Akram Apr. 01, 2021 02:13 AM EDT

Rami Aman, a Palestinian Gazan peace activist, recalls his ordeal, during an interview on the roof of his family house in Gaza City, Feb. 10, 2021. After months of torture and interrogations in a Hamas prison, Aman says he was offered an unconventional proposition: Divorce your wife and you are free to go. Aman had recently signed a marriage contract with the daughter of a Hamas official, and the ruling Islamic militant group apparently wanted to dispel any insinuation that it supported Aman’s outreach to Israeli peace activists. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Gaza man: After lengthy torture, Hamas forced me to divorce

By Fares Akram Apr. 01, 2021 02:11 AM EDT

Children follow the proceedings at a traditional marriage ceremony in the capital Harare, Zimbabwe Saturday, March 6, 2021. Many people across Africa are rethinking big, bountiful weddings amid the economic ravages of COVID-19 and the coronavirus pandemic is forcing change in communities where family can mean a whole clan and weddings are seen as key in cementing relations between communities. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Africans rethink big, bountiful weddings as pandemic bites

By Rodney Muhumuza And Farai Mutsaka Mar. 14, 2021 05:05 AM EDT

FILE - In this April 19, 2019 file photo, a gay pride rainbow flag flies along with the U.S. flag in front of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie Village, Kan. Conservative leaders within the United Methodist Church unveiled plans Monday, March 1, 2021 to form a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church, with a doctrine that does not recognize same-sex marriage. The move could hasten the long-expected breakup of the UMC, America’s largest mainline Protestant denomination, over differing approaches to LGBTQ inclusion. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
United Methodist conservatives detail plans for a breakaway

By David Crary Mar. 01, 2021 04:19 PM EST

This Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020 photo provided by Kristen Pritchard Photography shows Kayleigh during her wedding to Cody Cousins at home in San Diego, Calif. They initially planned an April 2020 wedding, postponed it after the pandemic took hold, rescheduled it for December, then had to shift gears again when a new lockdown was imposed. “That was devastating,” said Kayleigh. “We said, ‘Let’s just do it on Zoom.’” (Kristen Pritchard Photography via AP)
Marriage & divorce amid pandemic: Couples' challenges abound

By David Crary Feb. 14, 2021 09:04 AM EST

FILE- In this Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021 fiel photo, President Joe Biden, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, places his hand over his heart during a performance of the national anthem, during a virtual Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service in the State Dinning Room of the White House, in Washington. Donald Trump's departure from the White House and the start of Biden’s presidency have stirred new hopes among many religious leaders in the United States, while causing dismay among others. For leaders of the two largest Christian denominations — the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention — the paramount concern about the Biden administration is its strong support for abortion rights. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
A mix of hope and dismay as religious leaders assess Biden

By David Crary And Elana Schor Feb. 01, 2021 02:12 PM EST

Natsiraishe Maritsa, center, shares a light moment with young boys and girls after a taekwondo training session in the Epworth settlement about 15 km southeast of the capital Harare, Saturday Nov. 7, 2020. In Zimbabwe, where girls as young as 10 are forced to marry due to poverty or traditional and religious practices, a teenage martial arts fan 17-year old Natsiraishe Maritsa is using the sport to give girls in an impoverished community a fighting chance at life. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Zimbabwean teen teaches taekwondo to fight child marriage

By Farai Mutsaka Jan. 05, 2021 05:14 AM EST

Zoom call puts couple on path to marriage during a pandemic

By Patty Machelor Jan. 03, 2021 08:10 AM EST
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The first time he saw her face? It was not at a crowded party. Or even in a cafe, or a bar. ...

FILE - In this December 2005 file photo, Rev. Robert Graetz, second from left, and wife, Jeannie, sing along with Gladys Williams, right, on the Cleveland Avenue bus, during the walk of remembrance to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Montgomery, Ala. Graetz, the only white minister to support the Montgomery bus boycott, died Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020. He was 92. (Karen S. Doerr/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)
Religious leaders worldwide, across faiths who died in 2020

By David Crary Dec. 31, 2020 09:02 AM EST

Police officers escort Arzoo Raja, background center, after her appearance in Sindh High Court, in Karachi, Pakistan, on Nov. 3, 2020. Raja was 13 when she disappeared from her home in central Karachi. The Christian girl’s parents reported her missing and pleaded with police to find her. Two days later, officers reported back that she had been converted to Islam and was married to their 40-year-old Muslim neighbor. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Each year, 1,000 Pakistani girls forcibly converted to Islam

By Kathy Gannon Dec. 28, 2020 02:28 AM EST

FILE - In this July 2, 2020, file photo, Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a news conference in New York. On Tuesday, Nov. 24, one of Maxwell's attorneys said that her client is awakened every 15 minutes in jail while she sleeps to ensure she's breathing. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
US questions Maxwell's marriage in push to keep her jailed

By Michael R. Sisak Dec. 18, 2020 05:34 PM EST