STERLING, Va. (AP) — A senior Pentagon official apologized Friday to Washington-area Muslims for the burning of Qurans at a military base in Afghanistan. Peter Lavoy, acting assistant secretary of defense for Asia and Pacific security affairs, said the military is investigating and that all troops are being retrained in the handling of religious materials. Lavoy made the remarks Friday at a mosque in suburban Washington, D.C. They come after protests across Afghanistan over the burning of several Qurans at... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s mayor offered a robust defense Friday of a secret police department effort to monitor mosques and Muslim businesses and student groups in several states, following a week of criticism from college administrators and politicians who said the intelligence-gathering pried too deeply into the lives of law-abiding people. “We just cannot let our guard down again,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Speaking on his weekly radio show on WOR-AM, Bloomberg declined to discuss details of the... Read more

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police clashed with hundreds of Palestinians throwing rocks after Muslim prayers at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site on Friday. It was not immediately clear what set off the confrontation at the shrine sacred to both Jews and Muslims. However, there have been heightened tensions in recent days, with rumors circulating among Palestinian activists that far right Israelis are trying to gain entry to Muslim-controlled areas at the site. The rumors were false, according to Israeli police.... Read more

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says a new round of talks will be held in Hanoi next week aimed at enhancing relations with Vietnam, home to the second largest Catholic community in Southeast Asia. The Vatican said Friday that the talks, scheduled after several visits to the country by papal representatives, will serve to “deepen and develop bilateral relations.” There are 6 million Roman Catholics in Vietnam, the second largest Catholic community in the region after the Philippines. But... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s mayor served notice Friday that his police department will do everything in its power to root out terrorists in the U.S., even if it means sending officers outside the city limits or placing law-abiding Muslims under scrutiny. “We just cannot let our guard down again,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned. The mayor laid out his doctrine for keeping the city safe during his weekly radio show following a week of criticism of a secret police... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s mayor served notice Friday that his police department will do everything within its power to root out terrorists in the U.S., even if it means sending officers outside the city limits or placing law-abiding Muslims under scrutiny. Mayor Michael Bloomberg laid out his doctrine for keeping the city safe during his weekly radio show following a week of criticism of a secret police department effort to monitor mosques in several cities and keep files... Read more

ISTANBUL (AP) — As Turkey welcomes Syrians fleeing violence, the anniversary Friday of the deaths of more than 750 Jewish refugees who were denied shelter by Turkey in World War II was a reminder of perennial tension between pragmatic and humanitarian impulses. The SS Struma, whose passengers fled Romania and docked in Istanbul, was denied entry to Palestinian territory by colonial power Britain. On Feb. 23, 1942, Turkey towed the vessel to the Black Sea and set it adrift. A... Read more

BAGHDAD (AP) — A spokesman for al-Qaida in Iraq said Friday that a Sunni Muslim war against Shiites in Iraq is inevitable and threatened relentless waves of attacks like the one a day earlier that killed at least 55 people. The statement by Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, spokesman for the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq, tap into fears in Iraq and abroad about the country’s future stability and the government’s ability to protect its citizens following the withdrawal of the last... Read more

CAIRO (AP) — A leading Islamist presidential hopeful spent the night in a hospital with a concussion after a carjacking attack on a highway to Cairo, the Egyptian police and his spokesman said Friday. Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh was attacked by masked gunmen late Thursday and struck three times in the head with the butt of an automatic rifle, said the spokesman, Ali Bahnasawy. The attackers drove off with the vehicle. The brazen attack on a presidential hopeful, just months before elections... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s mayor served notice Friday that his police department will do everything within its power to root out terrorists in the U.S., even if it means sending officers outside the city limits or placing law-abiding Muslims under scrutiny. “We just cannot let our guard down again,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned. The mayor laid out his doctrine for keeping the city safe during his weekly radio show following a week of criticism of a secret police... Read more