Turkey has begun a new phase in sweeping restorations of the nearly 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, focusing on preserving the monument’s historic domes from the threat of earthquakes.

A Turkish bill aimed at regulating the country’s millions of stray dogs has moved closer to becoming law as animal rights advocates fear many of them will be killed or end up in neglected, overcrowded shelters.

A Turkish parliamentary commission has begun debating a contentious bill to manage the country's substantial stray dog population.

Workers using cranes have installed two more restored crosses on top of the domes of Kyiv’s 11th-century St. Sophia Cathedral as part of ongoing repair work at the landmark site.

Fasting across religions is practiced for a wide range of reasons that include spiritual purification and self-discipline.

(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has added 1,092 new coronavirus cases in a resurgence that is erasing hard-won epidemiological gains and eroding public confidence in the government’s ability to handle the outbreak. It would deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Preliminary data on U.S. deaths show the coronavirus pandemic contributing to a 15% or more increase in deaths over last year. ___MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials have reported a new daily high in confirmed coronavirus cases as the country awaits its first shipment of vaccine. ___WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation is reporting 151 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths related to COVID-19.

The full moon rises behind the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, early Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)ANKARA – The Greek Orthodox Church of the United States said Tuesday it is petitioning United Nations experts to coerce Turkey into protecting Orthodox Christianity's cultural heritage following the Turkish government's conversion of Istanbul’s landmark Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque. Built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 537, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque with the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. “The Hagia Sophia was built 15-hundred years ago to be the cathedral and first church of the Ecumenical Patriarchate," Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America said. “Today, with a heavy heart, we behold the historic and indeed essential Greek Orthodox Christian cultural heritage of Turkey being misappropriated, with the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque," he told the AP. "

Muslims offer their prayers outside the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, Thursday, July 23, 2020, a day before the first Muslim prayers in the landmark monument in 86 years following its conversion back into a mosque. (AP Photo/Omer Kuscu)ISTANBUL Hundreds of Muslim faithfuls were making their way to Istanbuls landmark Hagia Sophia on Friday to take part in the first prayers in 86 years at the structure that once was one of Christendoms most significant cathedrals, then a mosque and museum before its reconversion into a Muslim place of worship. Thousands of men and women, including many who traveled from across Turkey, are set to perform prayers in segregated areas outside Hagia Sophia. Built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 537, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque with the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. This is Hagia Sophia breaking away from its captivity chains.

FILE - In this April 25, 2020, file photo, is an aerial view of the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul. (AP Photo, File)ANKARA Turkey on Thursday appointed appointed three imams for Hagia Sophia, one of them a professor of religious studies, as the nation prepares for the first Muslim prayers in the Istanbul landmark in 86 years following its conversion back into a mosque. Erdogan issued a decree restoring the iconic sixth-century building as a mosque this month after a Turkish high court ruled that the Hagia Sophia had been illegally made into a museum more than eight decades ago. Erbas also named five muezzins the officials who make the Muslim call for prayer for Hagia Sophia, including two from Istanbuls famed Blue Mosque. Authorities have designated segregated areas outside of the Hagia Sophia for men and women wanting to join Friday's inaugural prayers.

Pope Francis delivers his message after the Angelus noon blessing from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, July 12, 2020. In a very brief, improvised remark, Pope Francis, speaking from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square, said he is deeply pained over the decision by Turkey to change the status of Hagia Sophia, which had originally been built as a Christian cathedral, from that of a museum in Istanbul to a mosque. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)VATICAN CITY Pope Francis said on Sunday that he is deeply pained over the decision by Turkey to change the status of Hagia Sophia which was originally built in Istanbul as a Christian cathedral from a museum to a mosque. In a very brief, improvised remark, Francis, speaking from his studio window overlooking St. Peters Square, noted that the Catholic Church marked Sunday as International Day of the Sea. The colossal Santa Sophia cathedral was turned into a mosque after the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453.