* After two suicide bombings on the Moscow subway system that killed 39 rush-hour commuters and a double suicide bombing that killed 12 people in Dagestan, a Russian republic in the Caucasus Mountains, Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev visited Dagestan and called for "more cruel" tactics against terrorists. Doku Umarov, a former Chechen separatist who has reinvented himself as a proponent of global jihad, took responsibility for the Moscow bombings. In the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala, Medvedev said that Russia's Interior Ministry needs to be overhauled with special focus on the Caucasus, an area in which Russian authorities have fought armed resistance for 20 years. "They must not only be more effective, but also tougher. If you would like, more cruel. For preventive purposes, for the prevention of terrorist acts. It has to be punished."
* In Adrian, Michigan, a band of militant Christians revolved around the Stone family and its ramshackle homestead. The group, which called itself the Hutaree, was heavily armed and talked of fighting back against the government. Not far away was the local branch of the Michigan Militia, a group that had a few things in common with the Hutaree: both groups wore camouflage, trained in the woods, and talked of the government's encroachment on their freedom. However, the two groups were actually adversaries. The Michigan Militia once had ties to extremist groups with neo-Nazi leanings but, according to experts who have studied both groups, had become more moderate over the years. Meanwhile, the Hutaree had become more violent. This past weekend, a member of the Stone family--"desperate and on the run from the law" (The New York Times)--called the local commander of the Michigan Militia, Matt Savino, asking for guns and shelter. Not only did Savino refuse to help--he also called the state police, who passed the information on to the FBI. Nine people in the Hutaree group were subsequently arrested on suspicion of plotting to kill a police officer and create violence at the officer's funeral. From The New York Times: "The context of Hutaree life in and around Adrian, where guns and resentment of federal authority is fairly common, is crucial to understanding the Hutaree and the Stones, many people in the area say. Yes, they shot guns, did skirmish exercises on their land and hosted regular monthly meetings of people in militaristic clothing, said one neighbor. But they also kept to themselves, and their talk was deemed by many people to be just that. 'We never thought they were dangerous,' said Jane Ream, 68, who lives just up the road with her husband, Dick. 'And lots of people shoot guns — that’s normal around here so you don’t pay any attention to it.'"
* Many Christians were outraged when conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck encouraged people to leave their churches if their church leaders talked about social or economic justice--he said these were code words that indicated Communism and Nazism. On his radio show on March 2, he said: "I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice, economic justice, they are code words."
* Workers for nonprofit groups have been trying to help all of the homeless people in New York City's Times Square move into housing or at least shelters, and they have mostly succeeded--except for one holdout. From The New York Times: "According to their records, by 2005, there were only 55. Last summer, it was down to 7. Now there is one. His name is Heavy, and he has lived on the streets of Times Square for decades. Day after day, he has politely declined offers of housing, explaining that he is a protector of the neighborhood and cannot possibly leave, the workers who visit him every day said."
* In Austria and Switzerland, archbishops and bishops marked the start of Easter by asking parishioners to come forward with any allegations of sexual abuse, and admitting to making mistakes when handling such claims in the past.