ROME – The nuns at the Marist Sisters religious order are counting their blessings after two sisters were trapped in a hot elevator in Rome for nearly three days before being rescued. A nun who answered the phone Tuesday at the order’s headquarters sighed deeply and said in English: “We …

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando’s police chief says state officials will look into whether an officer used excessive force for repeatedly kicking a man sitting passively on a curb. Orlando Police Chief John Mina said Wednesday that he has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate. Mina’s decision came …

RICHMOND, Va. – Former Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell has made her final written plea to a federal appeals court reviewing her public corruption convictions. In a brief filed Thursday evening with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, McDonnell’s lawyers restated their claims that the convictions were based on …

A Kyrgyzstan teen underwent life-saving surgery to remove a 9-pound hairball from her stomach, Metro reported. Ayperi Alekseeva, 18, was taken to the hospital by her parents after complaining of severe stomach pains and the inability to eat or drink anything without becoming violently ill. Doctors at Bishkek Hospital performed …

SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal says she will speak about the furor over racial identity sparked after her parents said she has falsely portrayed herself as black for years, but she is actually white. KHQ-TV in Spokane reported that Dolezal sent a message to NAACP members saying …

Upon hearing of the massive data breach of employee information from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) — allegedly by hackers working for the Chinese government — Kay Cole James, the former director of OPM under George W. Bush, told me she was “aghast,” adding, “I can’t think about the …

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis’ newly released teaching document is a wide-ranging look at what he calls an “ecological crisis” destroying our “common home.” The document, or encyclical, titled “Laudato Si,” (Praise Be), is at once a theological treatise, a public policy analysis and a heart-felt plea for personal change. …

Stunned by the secular Arab rebellions that have toppled some of the Middle East’s most enduring dictators, Al Qaeda and other violent Muslim extremists are struggling to capitalize on the upheavals that have reshaped the political map of the Middle East. While counterterrorism officials, scholars and analysts disagree about the …

EXCLUSIVE: President Obama says reforming immigration policy will help the nation’s economy, especially in the form of job creation. Research cited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says there is no correlation between immigration and high unemployment. But one major critic disagrees and says that illegal immigrants are already competing …

With the government shutdown looming, one federal employees may be reluctantly preparing for the furlough — space shuttle Endeavor. Disagreements over ideologies in the final hours of negotiations on Capitol Hill seemed deadlocked, and without a congressional resolution providing lawmakers more time to negotiate, the federal government shuts down at …