Cloistered nuns at a convent in Sicily have decided that their vow of silence may rule out gossiping with locals or telephoning old friends, but it does not exclude going online to swap e-mails. The 12 Cistercian nuns of the 13th century Santo Spirito convent in Agrigento have set up a Web site and are happy to take questions about what it is like to pray for hours in silence every day. The sisters, who speak to visitors, if necessary, through a grille, are being bombarded with inquiries at santospiritoag.com, said Sister Maria, who agreed to answer questions over the phone.
■ United States
Woman in jail sex scandal
A woman pleaded guilty to using a false ID badge to enter a US corrections facility while posing as an attorney so she could have sex with an inmate, state prosecutors said. Tiffany Weaver, 29, entered the plea on Wednesday. She was charged with identity theft and use of false government identification after entering the Maryland Reception Diagnostic and Classification Center last November to meet with inmate Jason Moody. Corrections officials responsible for monitoring inmate meetings with attorneys witnessed the two having sex once they were alone. The corrections officers ended the meeting.
■ United States
Man mows down teen
A jury convicted a man of murder for shooting a teenage neighbor who walked on his obsessively maintained lawn. The jury in southern Ohio deliberated less than four hours on Thursday before finding Charles Martin, 67, guilty of murder. Martin shot 15-year-old Larry Mugrage Jr after he stepped on the lawn Martin meticulously cared for. But the defense said Martin had been harassed for years by neighborhood youths. Prosecutors said Martin and the teen exchanged words when he stepped on Martin's yard on the way to play basketball. Later, the boy stepped on the lawn again and Martin fired at him twice with a shotgun, according to testimony.
■ United States
Bullock fan attacks husband
A woman obsessed with Sandra Bullock tried to run over the actress' husband, Jesse James, outside the couple's home, authorities said. Marcia Diana Valentine, 45, of Huntington Beach, California, tried to run over James with her Mercedes last Sunday, said Jim Amormino, an Orange County sheriff's office spokesman. Authorities said it was not the first time Valentine showed up at the celebrity couple's home. On several prior occasions, Bullock and James had found Valentine lying in front of their garage door, Amormino said. Valentine was arrested on Monday for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon.
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