NEW YORK (AP) — Faced with subjects whose religion and culture prohibit them from giving interviews on camera or even posing for pictures, many filmmakers would have given up. The folks at PBS’ “American Experience” stuck with it, however, and emerged with a revealing look at the Amish, a religious community of about 250,000 centered primarily in rural Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. The film premieres Tuesday on PBS stations (8 p.m. EST). The Amish, distinguished by their horse-and-buggy mode of... Read more

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A judge says a priest charged with raping a teenager while on leave from the Philadelphia archdiocese will go on trial next month in a church conspiracy case despite defense objections. The judge refuses to give the Rev. James Brennan a trial separate from two other church figures. Brennan wants a short trial involving one accuser. Instead, he’ll be at the defense table for months while prosecutors build a conspiracy and child-endangerment case against Monsignor William Lynn.... Read more

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A priest charged with raping a teen while on leave from the Philadelphia archdiocese will go on trial next month in a church conspiracy case, despite defense objections. A judge refuses to give the Rev. James Brennan a separate trial. Brennan wants a short trial involving a single accuser. Instead, he will be at the defense table for months while prosecutors build a conspiracy and child-endangerment case against Monsignor William Lynn. Prosecutors are expected to bring in... Read more

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — About 150 potential jurors will be questioned next week about their ability to spend several months hearing a landmark priest sex abuse case in Philadelphia. Lawyers are reviewing jury questionnaires filled out by residents of the heavily Catholic city. It remains unclear how much they will be asked about their religious beliefs or possible experiences with child sex assault. Monsignor William Lynn is set to go on trial March 26 on charges he endangered children by keeping... Read more

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s al-Qaida branch has claimed responsibility for the latest wave of bombings and other attacks that killed dozens in Baghdad and across the country in a single day, raising concerns over the government’s ability to provide security after the U.S. troop pullout. The Islamic State of Iraq said in an Internet message late Thursday that it targeted security forces and government officials in “revenge for the elimination and torture campaigns that Sunni men and women face in... Read more

NEW YORK (AP) — When a Danish newspaper published inflammatory cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in September 2005, Muslim communities around the world erupted in outrage. Violent mobs took to the streets in the Middle East. A Somali man even broke into the cartoonist’s house in Denmark with an ax. In New York, thousands of miles (kilometers) away, it was a different story. At the Masjid Al-Falah in Queens, one leader condemned the cartoons but said Muslims should not to resort... Read more

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The mayor of New Jersey’s largest city called for state authorities Wednesday to investigate a widespread spying operation conducted in Newark’s Muslim neighborhoods by the New York Police Department that he characterized as “deeply offensive.” At about the same time Newark Mayor Cory Booker made his remarks, Gov. Chris Christie, once New Jersey’s top federal law enforcement official, called the surveillance “disturbing” and said Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa was already looking into the reports. In mid-2007,... Read more

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — President Barack Obama apologized to Afghans on Thursday for the burning of Qurans at a U.S. military base, trying to assuage rising anti-American sentiment as an Afghan soldier gunned down two American troops during another day of angry protests. The U.S.-led military coalition says the Muslim holy books were sent by mistake to a garbage burn pit at Bagram Air Field and the case is under investigation. The explanation and multiple apologies from U.S. officials have... Read more

BEIRUT (AP) — Medics stitch wounds with thread used for clothing. Hungry residents risk Syrian government sniper fire or shelling to hunt for dwindling supplies of bread and canned food on the streets of the besieged city of Homs. The opposition stronghold was being destroyed “inch by inch,” by government forces, with collapsed walls and scorched buildings, according to accounts Thursday, while Western and Arab leaders hoped to silence the guns long enough to rush in relief aid. The pressure... Read more

CHICAGO (AP) — The former head of Newark’s police did not tell Mayor Rahm Emanuel about a secret NYPD operation that spied on Muslims in New Jersey’s largest city before Emanuel hired him to lead the Chicago force, the mayor’s office said Wednesday. Emanuel’s spokeswoman, Sarah Hamilton, added that while Emanuel does not want the Chicago Police Department to conduct such surveillance, he has no questions about the fitness of Superintendent Garry McCarthy to lead the department. “He has full... Read more