NEW YORK (AP) — A Jewish charity co-founder who claimed he traveled the world as a “Jewish Indiana Jones” to rescue Torahs pleaded guilty to fraud charges Thursday, saying he lied when he claimed he had personally obtained vintage Torah scrolls in Europe and Israel for six years. Menachem Youlus entered the plea to mail and wire fraud charges in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Youlus is the owner of the Jewish Bookstore in Wheaton, Md., where he lives. A... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — A Jewish charity co-founder who claimed he traveled the world as a “Jewish Indiana Jones” to rescue Torahs pleaded guilty to fraud charges Thursday, saying he lied when he claimed he had personally obtained vintage Torah scrolls in Europe and Israel for six years. Menachem Youlus entered the plea to mail and wire fraud charges in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Youlus, the owner of the Jewish Bookstore in Maryland, where he lives. A plea deal... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — A Jewish charity co-founder who claimed he traveled the world as a “Jewish Indiana Jones” to rescue Torahs has pleaded guilty to fraud charges in New York. Menachem Youlus (muh-NAH’-kuhm YOO’-luhs) entered the plea to mail and wire fraud charges on Thursday. Youlus owns the Jewish Bookstore in Wheaton, Md., where he lives. He told Judge Colleen McMahon that he lied between 2004 and 2010 when he told people he personally obtained certain vintage Torah scrolls... Read more

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Billy Kirchen says the sexual abuse began when he was about 11, when his choir director at a Milwaukee parish assaulted him in the 1970s. After five years of abuse he reported the alleged perpetrator, but says prosecutors and officials with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee did nothing. Now he’s hoping a financial claim against the archdiocese will finally lead to the emotional closure he has craved. Kirchen is one of about 550 people who filed a claim... Read more

ATLANTA (AP) — Jewish leaders are criticizing a ceremony that involved a controversial megachurch leader being wrapped in a religious scroll and exalted as a “king” to the applause of his parishioners. The video from a service last Sunday at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church shows Rabbi Ralph Messer, a Messianic preacher, instructing two men to slowly wrap Bishop Eddie Long in a large scroll that’s purported to be the Torah. “It doesn’t matter where you go, how you try... Read more

DIRE PREDICAMENT: The leader of Greece’s Orthodox Church warns that rising poverty could trigger a “social explosion” and says the measures Greece is taking to avoid defaulting on its debt are “fatal.” THE DEAL: Greece is promising rescue creditors to make more cuts as it nears agreement with other countries in the 17-nation eurozone for a bailout and with private creditors for a debt reduction. CHURCH RESPONSE: The Greek church has stepped up a charity drive this week, during a... Read more

BEIRUT (AP) — Thirty years ago Thursday, Syria’s regime launched a withering assault on the rebellious city of Hama, leveling entire neighborhoods and killing thousands in one of the most notorious massacres in the modern Middle East. Today Syria is in the throes of a new rebellion, and Hama stands as both a rallying cry for those trying for nearly 11 months to topple the regime and a dreadful warning of what the ruling Assad family is capable of doing... Read more

LAS VEGAS (AP) — If Mitt Romney wins the Nevada caucus Saturday, he might well feel special gratitude for the state’s Mormon voters. Romney, a Mormon himself with close ties to church leaders, is expected to carry an overwhelming majority of votes from Nevada members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Indeed, most Republican Mormon voters backed him here in the presidential caucus four years ago. Courting the Mormon vote in a Republican contest in Nevada and... Read more

LAS VEGAS (AP) — If Mitt Romney wins the Nevada caucus on Saturday, he might want to thank members of the Mormon church. Romney, a Mormon himself, is expected to carry a majority of the votes from Nevada members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most Republican Mormon voters backed him here in 2008. There are just over 175,000 Mormons in Nevada, roughly 7 percent of the state’s population. They carry more clout than that in elections... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — A secret police document shows that the New York Police Department recommended increasing surveillance of thousands of Muslims and their mosques based solely on their religion. The Associated Press obtained a copy of a May 2006 New York police intelligence report on Iran. It says police should expand clandestine operations at Shiite mosques. It then lists mosques around the Northeast. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said the police department never considers religion in its policing. Police Commissioner... Read more