Patrick Wendt, a Port Washington, Wis., priest who conducted the funeral Mass for a 7-year-old boy who likely died of neglect 65 years ago, thanked God for the crowd at the service and "for surrounding him with that love and care that he didn't seem to have much of in his life."
Ornella Dorigatti says she and other protesters used recycled paper to write the pope and ask him to decline this year's traditional gift of a Vatican Christmas tree and let the 100-foot-tall evergreen keep growing in the spirit of his namesake, Francis of Assisi, who chose nature over notoriety.
Luca Zaia is "shocked" and says doors must remain open to all in Italy's Veneto region, where he is governor, after a hotel there refused to honor the reservation of an Israeli couple, accusing them of being "responsible for genocide."
Allison Hensley, a spokesperson for California's Department of Insurance, says four fraudsters have been arrested after staging a bear attack on the interior of a Rolls Royce that was carried out by someone wearing a costume.
Nathan Hart, a researcher at Australia's Macquarie University, says LED lights appear to repel sharks from seal-shaped decoys and might also protect humans if placed on the bottoms of surfboards.
Ben Supple of Scotland's Edinburgh Zoo is blaming panic from Guy Fawkes Day fireworks for the stress that killed Roxie, a 3-month-old red panda that died five days after its mother.
Jeanette Allen, chief exec of The Horse Trust animal welfare group, says Vida has a particular place in workers' hearts as the white military horse -- known for its bloody gallop through rush hour London and ensuing collision with a vehicle this spring -- went home to the ceremonial guard of King Charles III after a 6-month recovery.
Ricardo Silva says it's bizarre ... but maybe not, since so many people need shelter, after a Los Angeles SWAT team used gas to extract a nude man who had been living in the crawl space of Silva's 92-year-old mother-in-law's house.
Matthew Chavez is surprised by all the thoughts left by New Yorkers at his art project inviting them to post sticky notes on a subway tunnel, including one that read, "The horrors persist, but so do I."