Forty-three years ago today, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead in Memphis. A new biography published today about his ideological rival, Macolm X, suggests a New Jersey Muslim was responsible for X’s assassination.

Afghan protests over the burning of a Quran in Florida continued Sunday for a third day, with three more people killed, bringing the death toll to 24. The top American commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, and the NATO civilian representative in Afghanistan issued a joint statement condemning the Quran burning; Afghan President Karzai wants Congress to pass a resolution denouncing it.

The Taliban has exploited the ongoing tumult, according to the LA Times, using the riots as cover for attacks against Western and government targets and reaping propaganda benefits by allying themselves with popular fury over the desecration of the Muslim holy book.

A UN reporter says “This is not the beginning of the end for the international community in Afghanistan. This is the end.”

Pastor Terry Jones, for his part, remains unrepentant and unbowed, though his church his empty, his pockets void and his head carries a bounty. He said that he was “saddened” and “moved” by the deaths, but that given the chance he would do it all over again, according to the NYT.

CNN has a timeline on how we got to this sad state of affairs.

Two suicide bombers set off an explosion at a Sufi shrine in Pakistan, killing at least 42 people, according to the NYT.

France’s new law banning veils that hide the face takes effect on April 11. Women who disobey it face fines, special classes and a police record. A Michigan federal district court granted a preliminary injunction preventing the bus system in four Michigan counties from rejecting anti-Muslim ads.

The New Hampshire state legislator who called the local Catholic bishop a “pedophile pimp” has decided “upon humble reflection” that it was perhaps an “undiplomatic” choice of words.

The Supreme Court has tossed out a lawsuit challenging Arizona’s tax breaks for voluntary donations benefiting private (often religious) school scholarships, according to CNN.

A Christian street preacher has no right to sue Philly police who, citing safety concerns, removed him (and his megaphone) from a gay rights parade, a federal district court ruled.

Oregon’s Supreme Court rejected a convicted murderer’s argument that evidence of Satanism introduced at the penalty phase of his trial violated his free exercise rights.

Nuns who are investors in Goldman Sachs are challenging the bank’s payroll after it was announced that five top executives were paid $69.5 million last year. An order of nuns based in Ann Arbor says it won’t buy the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C.

The Association of Jewish Aging Services fired its president and CEO because she got leukemia.

Neither snow, nor rain, nor Sabbath shall stay USPS couriers (even Seventh-day Adventists) from the swift completion of their appointed rounds, a federal appeals court ruled.