WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid about $3 million in federal income taxes in 2010, having earned more than seven times that from his investments and making him among the wealthiest of American taxpayers. At the same time, Romney gave nearly $3 million to charity — about half of that amount to the Mormon Church — which helped lower his effective tax rate to a modest 14 percent, according to records his campaign released early Tuesday. For... Read more

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican archbishop is asking criminals not to hurt people traveling to see Pope Benedict XVI during his first visit to the country. Archbishop Jose Guadalupe Martin Rabago says he is confident that drug-cartel members will respect his call Sunday not to abuse worshippers and cause sorrow and death. He oversees the diocese of Leon, which the pope will visit. Martin Rabago told reporters that the pope’s trip will bring “times of peace and grace.” The... Read more

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Prosecutors are calling the Archdiocese of Philadelphia an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a clergy sex abuse case, saying the Catholic Church fed predators a steady supply of children. The comment comes in a key hearing Monday before the March trial of a high-ranking church official, a priest and an ex-priest. Monsignor William Lynn is charged with conspiring with priests and church officials to keep accused priests in the ministry and parishioners uninformed. To prove a conspiracy, prosecutors want... Read more

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The trial of a Tunisian TV station for airing the prize-winning animated feature “Persepolis” and allegedly insulting Islam was adjourned by a Tunisian court on Monday until April 19. The controversy over the film illustrates how Tunisia, the country that started the wave of uprisings that have swept through the Arab world this year, is struggling to work out the role of Islam in society after years of officially enforced secularism. The Nessma TV channel aired... Read more

CLEVELAND (AP) — The defense for a breakaway Amish leader charged in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio says the government is trying to demonize him to keep him locked up pending trial. The attorney for 66-year-old Samuel Mullet Sr. told a Cleveland federal judge on Monday that the government is trying to invoke the memory of a deadly 1993 Waco, Texas, standoff in opposing Mullet’s release. Federal prosecutors say Mullet is a risk to flee and poses a... Read more

CLEVELAND (AP) — A federal judge in Ohio says he won’t consider a renewed defense move for pretrial release of a breakaway Amish leader charged in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish. The defense told the judge on Monday that the government is trying to demonize 66-year-old Samuel Mullet Sr. and invoke the memory of a deadly 1993 Waco, Texas, standoff in opposing pretrial release. But Judge Dan Aaron Polster rejected the request to reconsider release on bond. Prosecutors say Mullet... Read more

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Senior Iranian lawmakers stepped up threats Monday that Islamic Republic warships could block the Persian Gulf’s oil tanker traffic after the latest blow by Western leaders seeking to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program: A punishing oil embargo by the European Union that sharply raises the economic stakes for Iran’s defiance. The EU decision in Brussels — following the U.S. lead to target Iran’s critical oil exports — opened a new front against Iran’s leadership. Pressure is... Read more

KANO, Nigeria (AP) — The aging Muslim spiritual leader of this northern Nigeria city, his eyes heavy with fatigue, leaned into a microphone Monday and whispered to God his wish for peace after the killing of at least 185 people in an attack by a radical Islamist sect. On the street, however, smudged black graffiti written in charcoal gave a different message: “Boko Haram good.” Though businesses reopened and traffic again filled the streets Monday of Nigeria’s second-largest city, people... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — With Islamists comprising the overwhelming majority of its lawmakers, the parliament elected in Egypt’s first legislative vote after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster nearly a year ago held its inaugural session on Monday. The convening of the new parliament is a significant benchmark in the timetable provided by the generals who took over from Mubarak for the handover of power to a civilian administration. It is also a step forward for Islamist groups on the road to becoming the... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — The parliament elected in Egypt’s first legislative vote after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster nearly a year ago held its inaugural session on Monday, with Islamists dominating the 498-seat chamber. The session was chaired by Mahmoud el-Saqqah, the chamber’s oldest lawmaker. The lower and more powerful of parliament’s two chambers, known as the People’s Assembly, was due to elect a speaker and two deputies later in the session. The speaker was expected to come from the Muslim Brotherhood, a... Read more