NEW YORK (AP) — Police documents obtained by The Associated Press show the New York Police Department targeted Muslim mosques with tactics normally reserved for criminal organizations. Police collected the license plates of worshippers, monitored them on surveillance cameras and cataloged sermons through a network of informants. The documents have come to light as the NYPD fends off criticism about its monitoring of Muslim student groups and its cataloging of mosques and Muslim businesses in Newark, N.J. The NYPD’s spokesman,... Read more

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Thousands of Afghans staged new demonstrations Friday over the burning of Qurans at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, evidence that President Barack Obama’s apology has so far failed to quiet the outrage over the incident. About 4,000 protesters marched toward the governor’s compound in Khost, the capital of Khost province, police said. In the eastern part of Nangarhar province, several thousand shouted “Death to America!” and burned a cardboard picture of Obama. In the capital... Read more

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — NATO’s top military commander said Friday that an investigation into this week’s Quran burnings at a U.S. base in Afghanistan is pushing ahead and called on Afghans to be patient and exercise restraint. U.S. Gen. John Allen’s call came as Afghan security forces were put on high alert to deal with expected demonstrations around the country after Friday prayers. “Working together with the Afghan leadership is the only way for us to correct this major error... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — Officials in three states traded accusations over who knew what about a secret 2007 New York Police Department operation that monitored and catalogued Muslim neighborhoods throughout New Jersey’s largest city. The operation resulted in a 60-page NYPD report, released by The Associated Press this week, containing photographs and notes about every mosque and Muslim business in Newark, just west of Manhattan. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Thursday that Newark police were fully aware of the operation,... Read more

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A new claim has surfaced that the Mormon church has posthumously baptized a Holocaust victim, this time Anne Frank. The allegations come just a week after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apologized when it was brought to light that the parents of Holocaust survivor and Jewish rights advocate Simon Wiesenthal were posthumously baptized by church members at temples in Arizona and Utah in late January. Mormon researcher Helen Radkey, who revealed the... Read more

When Carol Maurer has a lot on her plate, she finds it useful to visit the labyrinth made of river rocks at the Delaware Art Museum, in Wilmington. “It quiets my mind,” said Maurer, who lives in Hockessin, Delaware “It sets the path for me so I can spiral inward.” Labyrinths, which have been constructed for thousands of years, have become a popular addition to hospitals, gardens and public institutions. With a single path in and out, labyrinths are designed... Read more

BOSTON (AP) — When he was running to fill the office left vacant by the death of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, Republican Scott Brown famously declared: “It’s not the Kennedy seat. And it’s not the Democrats’ seat. It’s the people’s seat.” Yet as he seeks to win a full six-year term, the freshman Massachusetts senator has been quick to invoke the legacy of the late “liberal lion” — never more vigorously than during the fight in Washington over whether to... Read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it is deeply worried that Iran may execute a Christian pastor. State Department spokesman Mark Toner says the pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani, faces a death sentence for charges of apostasy and refusing to recant his Christian faith. He cited reports that a provincial court is renewing the execution order for Nadarkhani. Toner said Thursday the U.S. was standing with religious and political leaders from around the world in condemning Nadarkhani’s conviction. Washington is demanding... Read more

Washington (AP) — Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke was given her chance to talk to Congress Thursday, even though lawmakers were on a break and just a few Democratic allies were there to cheer her on. But what a difference a week makes. Last Thursday the Republican-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee rejected Democrats’ request that Fluke testify on the Obama administration’s policy requiring that employees of religion-affiliated institutions have access to health insurance that covers birth control.... Read more

CHICAGO (AP) — Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday there’s no way Chicago police officers would spy on Muslims or conduct surveillance operations in their communities like those carried out by New York officers in that city and neighboring New Jersey. “We don’t do that in Chicago and we’re not going to do that,” Emanuel said in his first public comments about the operations since The Associated Press reported the NYPD in 2007 eavesdropped on Muslims in Newark, N.J., and put... Read more