Nation, world briefs 2/21/2016

Scalia recalled as man of faith, family, law

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was remembered Saturday as a man of faith, family and the law in a funeral marked by church ritual and pageantry for the conservative jurist whose large personality dominated the high court for nearly three decades. A who's who of the nation's political and legal elite was among more than 3,000 mourners at a funeral Mass for Scalia at the largest Catholic church in the United States. Vice President Joe Biden and 10 of the 11 living justices with whom Scalia served joined his wife of 55 years, their nine children and dozens of grandchildren. President Barack Obama did not attend, despite some criticism from Republicans. The White House said the decision is a "respectful arrangement" because of the president's large security detail and Biden's personal relationship with Scalia's family. Scalia was buried later Saturday in a private ceremony at an undisclosed location.

2 hostages die U.S. airstrikes in Libya

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Two Serbian embassy staffers held hostage since November died in Friday's U.S. airstrikes on an Islamic State camp in Libya that killed dozens, Serbian officials said Saturday, questioning why the Americans did not appear to know foreign captives were at the site. A U.S. official said American forces had "no information indicating that their deaths were a result" of the airstrikes. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said there was no doubt Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver, died in the American bombing. They were snatched in November after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under fire near the city of Sabratha.

2 NYPD officers shot in confrontation

NEW YORK -- Two police officers were shot in a confrontation with a gunman who slammed his car into a police vehicle early Saturday, in the second on-duty shooting of officers in the nation's biggest city this month, police said. Officers William Reddin and Andrew Yurkiw were in stable condition after the 3:30 a.m. encounter, which happened as officers converged and fired at an armed driver who had pointed a gun at some of the officers, fled and rammed a police car, police commissioner William Bratton said. Police were investigating how many officers fired and whether police themselves fired any of the shots that injured their colleagues.

Standoff ends with Mississippi cop dead

JACKSON, Miss. -- One law-enforcement officer was killed and three were wounded early Saturday after a six-hour standoff at a rural Mississippi house ended when authorities stormed the house and the gunman inside opened fire, authorities said. Also killed was the man suspected of firing on the officers. The standoff started Friday afternoon when authorities responded to a domestic dispute call at the home in rural northeastern Mississippi, authorities said. But the man, holed up in his home with his wife and 10-year-old daughter, refused to come out, sparking a six-hour standoff with officers outside, said police spokesman Warren Strain.

-- From wire reports