HAVANA (AP) — Cuba has honored an appeal by Pope Benedict XVI and declared next week’s Good Friday a holiday for the first time since the early days following the island’s 1959 Revolution, though a decision on whether the move will be permanent will have to wait. The Communist government said in a communique Saturday that the decision was made in light of the success of Benedict’s “transcendental visit” to the country, which wrapped up Wednesday. It said the Council... Read more

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Dervo Sejdic never wanted to be president. But angered that he was barred from running because he’s a gypsy, he decided to fight for the right “as a matter of principle.” Jakob Finci is Bosnia’s ambassador to Switzerland and has held many government posts. But he can’t run because he’s a Jew. Both sued Bosnia in the European Court of Human Rights to force the nation to change its constitution, which allows only Muslim Bosniaks, Christian... Read more

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) — An Iraqi-American woman found bludgeoned to death in her California home last week, with a threatening note left beside her body, was buried in her native Iraq on Saturday. Relatives wept uncontrollably by her graveside and her father asked God to extoll revenge on those responsible for her death. Earlier in the day, the body of Iraqi-born Shaima Alawadi was flown from the U.S. to the Shiite holy city of Najaf, south of the Iraqi capital... Read more

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) — The family of an Iraqi-American woman found bludgeoned to death in her California home last week, with a threatening note left beside her, has brought her body to Iraq for burial. A plane carrying the Iraqi-born Shaima Alawadi landed Saturday in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad. Two police cars escorted a pickup truck carrying her casket, draped in an Iraqi flag, from the airport to the “Valley of Peace,” a large cemetery... Read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — An FBI review of agent training material critical of Islam uncovered 876 offensive or inaccurate pages that had been used in 392 presentations, including a PowerPoint slide that said the bureau can sometimes bend or suspend the law. The bureau has not released the material, but Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois described a few pages of it in a letter asking FBI Director Robert Mueller to institute five changes so that inappropriate FBI training on Islam... Read more

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming tribe that received the nation’s first federal permit allowing members to kill bald eagles for religious purposes renewed a legal challenge against the government Friday, calling the permit a “sham” because of restrictions against killing the birds on the tribe’s reservation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on March 9 granted the Northern Arapaho a permit allowing members to kill two eagles only outside the Wind River Indian Reservation. The Arapaho share their reservation... Read more

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (AP) — An influential U.S.-based Kashmiri activist was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for concealing his links to Pakistan’s spy agency while he presented himself as an independent voice to members of Congress and successive presidential administrations. Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, was the longtime executive director of the Washington-based Kashmiri American Council. Last year he pleaded guilty to using a network of straw donors to hide the fact that Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI, had... Read more

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An influential U.S.-based Kashmiri activist was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for concealing his links to Pakistan’s spy agency while he presented himself as an independent voice to members of Congress and successive presidential administrations. Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, of Fairfax, was the longtime executive director of the Washington-based Kashmiri American Council. Last year he pleaded guilty to using a network of straw donors to hide the fact that Pakistan’s spy agency, the... Read more

PAXTON, Mass. (AP) — A Roman Catholic college in Massachusetts has withdrawn an invitation to the widow of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy to speak at graduation after the bishop of Worcester (WUS’-tur) raised concerns about her views. Victoria Reggie Kennedy was scheduled to speak at Anna Maria College’s May commencement. The Paxton school announced Friday that “concerns were expressed about the college being in conflict with the bishop.” The college did not cite Bishop Robert McManus’s specific concerns. A diocese... Read more

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish lawmakers have approved a hotly contested bill that opponents say will boost the influence of Islamic schools by allowing middle school students to attend such institutions. The proposal snagged 295 votes in the 550-member parliament Friday. It extends compulsory education from the current eight years to 12. It also reverses a military-imposed move dating to 1997 that closed religious middle schools and allowed only high school students to attend such institutions. Turkey is a Muslim... Read more