ROME (AP) – In Italy, family is considered so sacred that marriage is lauded in the Constitution. But what kind of family? That has become a bitterly divisive question in a nation where the Vatican packs considerable political weight and where gays have grown impatient as other traditionally Catholic European …

ROME (AP) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says freedom of expression doesn’t extend to insulting other people’s faith. Rouhani told reporters Wednesday that he and Pope Francis discussed the issue during their audience at the Vatican on Tuesday. Francis was once asked about the extremist attacks on the satirical French …

BEIJING (AP) – The United States and China sparred Wednesday on how to deal with North Korea’s latest nuclear weapons test and ease rising tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. After meeting for more than four hours in Beijing in what they both termed “constructive” and “candid” …

TOKYO (AP) – An American university student’s arrest in North Korea has rekindled questions about whether a small but steady trickle of U.S. tourists who go to the country are unwittingly offering themselves up as valuable pawns in a political game with Pyongyang that can have serious repercussions for officials …

MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Philippine President Benigno Aquino III gave a red-carpet welcome to Japan’s emperor Wednesday in a sign of blossoming ties between the two nations, both mired in territorial disputes with China, while further moving past painful memories of Japan’s World War II aggression. Aquino and Emperor Akihito …

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Apple is bracing for its first sales decline in 13 years, despite selling a record 74.8 million iPhones in the final three months of 2015, in what may prove to be a turning point for the world’s most valuable company. The tech giant says revenue could …