HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — Prosecutors say a second person has been charged in the January firebombings of two synagogues in northern New Jersey — a young man they say instigated the attacks. Bergen County prosecutors say 19-year-old Aakash Dalal of New Brunswick gave 19-year-old Anthony Graziano of Lodi information on how to make incendiary devices. Graziano was charged in January in the firebombings of synagogues in Rutherford and Paramus and with plotting a third attack on a Jewish community center.... Read more

HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — Prosecutors say an additional arrest has been made in the January firebombings of two synagogues in northern New Jersey. The Bergen County prosecutor’s office says no additional details will be provided until a 4 p.m. news conference Friday. Nineteen-year-old Anthony Graziano, of Lodi, was arrested last month in the firebombings of synagogues in Rutherford and Paramus. He’s been charged with nine counts of attempted murder as well as bias intimidation and arson. Prosecutors also later charged... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — An interstate feud escalated Friday when a New York congressman berated the New Jersey governor for “trying to score cheap political points” instead of saving lives when he complained that the New York Police Department’s monitoring of Muslims across the state line was arrogant and secretive. Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Gov. Chris Christie crossed a line when he mocked Police Commissioner Ray Kelly as “all-knowing, all-seeing” and said the... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Authors Jonathan Safran Foer and Nathan Englander, seated together at a Brooklyn diner, would like to continue a discussion that has lasted for centuries. They have collaborated on a text dating to Biblical times and revisited each year by millions of Jews worldwide. “New American Haggadah,” just published by Little, Brown and Company, is a new edition of the Passover narrative that has been edited by Foer and translated by Englander. They are a contrast —... Read more

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A measure to ban the use of foreign laws in domestic courtrooms is progressing in Florida’s statehouse, one of dozens of similar efforts across the country that critics call an unwarranted campaign driven by fear of Muslims. Forty such bills are being pursued in 24 states, according to a tally by the National Conference of State Legislatures, a movement backers say is a response to a glaring hole in legal protections for Americans. Opponents... Read more

COSMOPOLIS, Washington (AP) — Jeremiah Small spent six years teaching at a private Christian school in northern Iraq, sharing his love of history, literature and Jesus with the primarily Muslim students in his classes. He didn’t worry about his safety, even if his family in the United States did. The popular 33-year-old teacher was gunned down Thursday in his classroom by a student who then killed himself — cementing the worst fears of Small’s deeply religious parents, as well as... Read more

COSMOPOLIS, Wash. (AP) — Jeremiah Small spent six years teaching at a private Christian school in northern Iraq, sharing his love of history, literature and Jesus with the primarily Muslim students in his classes. He didn’t worry about his safety, even if his family in Washington state did. The popular 33-year-old teacher was gunned down Thursday in his classroom by a student who then killed himself — cementing the worst fears of Small’s deeply religious parents, as well as those... Read more

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey is on a roll these days, uplifted by economic growth and regional diplomacy. Now comes a film to boost the feel-good mood, an epic about the 15th century fall of Constantinople that fuses national pride with Hollywood-style ambition. “Fetih 1453,” or “Conquest 1453,” casts good guys (read Muslim Ottomans) against bad guys (aka Christian Byzantines), transforming a clash of empires and religions into a duel between right and wrong. The capture of what is today Istanbul... Read more

Republicans fail to overturn Obama mandate for birth control coverage; tight vote in Senate WASHINGTON (AP) — In an election year battle mixing birth control, religion and politics, Democrats narrowly blocked an effort by Senate Republicans to overturn President Barack Obama’s order that most employers or their insurers cover the cost of contraceptives. The 51-48 vote on Thursday killed a measure that would have allowed employers and insurers to opt out of portions of the president’s health care law they... Read more

Republicans fail to overturn Obama mandate for birth control coverage; tight vote in Senate WASHINGTON (AP) — In an election year battle mixing birth control, religion and politics, Democrats narrowly blocked an effort by Senate Republicans to overturn President Barack Obama’s order that most employers or their insurers cover the cost of contraceptives. The 51-48 vote on Thursday killed a measure that would have allowed employers and insurers to opt out of portions of the president’s health care law they... Read more