VATICAN CITY – Eight minutes of silence instead of a homily have marked the Vatican funeral of a former papal diplomat, whose trial on charges of possession of child pornography and sexual abuse of minors had begun this summer in a Holy See courtroom. A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro …

BUCHAREST, Romania – Romania’s former president says prosecutors are investigating threatening remarks he made to a senator while he was president. In March, prosecutors began to investigate Traian Basescufor blackmail which carries a heavier penalty. He arrived at the prosecutor’s office Wednesday where he was jeered by about 20 people. …

UPDATE: A federal judge has ordered a defiant Kentucky clerk to jail after she refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. U.S. District Judge David Bunning told Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis she would be jailed until she complied with his order to issue the licenses. Davis said “thank …

BEIRUT – Activists say tension and anti-government protests have spread in a southern Syrian province following the death of a prominent cleric in explosions that claimed the lives of 25 others. Activists said Saturday that protesters destroyed the statute of late Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad in the city of Sweida …

Nearly one in five high school students who said they used electronic cigarettes to vaporize nicotine also used them to vaporize pot, according to a survey of nearly 4,000 Connecticut teens. The study, published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics, is the first evidence that teens are using electronic cigarettes …

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – An Ethiopian court has charged two men over the deaths of four Ethiopians who died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to go to Italy. The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporation reported Wednesday that the two suspects, Ethiopians identified as Umer Musa and Abdel Menan Adem, …

ALBANY, N.Y. – A man refusing to say what he did with money from the sale of property during divorce proceedings is urging New York’s highest court to refuse to hold him in contempt. Arguing Thursday before the Court of Appeals, Sam Reed’s lawyer says Reed doesn’t have to testify …

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – New England got Rob Gronkowski back on Sunday. It wasn’t quite enough. Gronkowski, who missed the first six games after having offseason surgery on his back and broken left forearm, had eight catches for 114 yards, and one big miss, in the Patriots’ 30-27 loss to …

NEWTON, Iowa – Sam Hornish Jr. beat Ryan Blaney off a restart with 21 laps to go and hung on to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Sunday at Iowa Speedway. Pole-sitter Ryan Blaney was second, followed by Regan Smith, Chase Elliott and Elliott Sadler in the first stand-alone event …

WASHINGTON – James Van Riemsdyk took advantage of the latest Washington Capitals calamity, swooping in when a defenseman and goaltender couldn’t decide who was going to play the puck. Van Riemsdyk scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season Tuesday night, while Korbinian Holzer scored on just the fourth …