A former teacher convicted of showing a movie including graphic sex and violence to a high school class was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
	Sheila Kearns, a substitute teacher who was convicted in January of four felony counts, apologized in court, saying she hadn't watched the movie before showing it to her Spanish classes at Columbus' East High School in April 2013.
	The movie, "The ABCs of Death," consists of 26 chapters, each depicting some form of grisly death and representing a letter of the alphabet, such as "E is for Exterminate," ''O is for Orgasm" and "T is for Toilet."
	Kearns, 58, was convicted of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.Ly/1M7CFUc ) reported the judge placed her on probation for three years but made the jail time a condition of probation.
	Kearns contended she was unaware of the movie's content. Her attorney said she never would have knowingly showed it.
	But a student testified Kearns had watched the 129-minute movie. ..

US teacher jailed for showing school class violent movie

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Iran's official news agency says that special operatives have freed an Iranian diplomat abducted more than 19 months ago in Yemen.
	IRNA quotes deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdolahian as saying the intelligence officers carried out a "difficult and complicated operation" to secure the freedom of Nour Ahmad Nikbakhat from the "hands of terrorists."
	The report says Nikbakhat, who was stationed in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa at the time of his abduction, returned home to Iran on Thursday.
	The deputy foreign minister did not elaborate. Iran rarely admits to carrying out intel operations abroad.
	In July 2013, armed men stopped an Iranian diplomat's car as he was driving in Sanaa, forced him into their vehicle and sped away.
	No one claimed responsibility but the abduction was blamed on al-Qaida-linked gunmen.

Iranian special operatives free diplomat abducted in Yemen

A 21-year-old man previously charged with lying on a passport application so he could fly to Syria to join the Islamic State terrorist group was indicted on a charge of trying to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
	Adam Dandach was also charged in the superseding indictment with obstructing justice by trying to destroy records of his online activity to thwart investigators.
	Dandach was stopped in July in the Orange County airport while trying to board a flight to Turkey with an expedited replacement passport he got after he said he accidentally threw his old one away. Prosecutors said he knew that wasn't true and that his mother had confiscated the passport when she heard about his plan to go overseas.
	The FBI said Dandach told agents he planned to pledge allegiance and offer to help the Islamic State in Syria any way he could. He told agents he believed the killings of American soldiers were justified.
	When told he could face criminal charges, Dandach ...

California man charged with trying to join Islamic State

US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Saudi Arabia seeking to ease Gulf Arab concerns about an emerging nuclear deal with Iran as well as instability in Yemen and other nations.
	A day after wrapping up the latest round of Iran nuclear negotiations, Kerry was meeting Thursday in the Saudi capital of Riyadh with foreign ministers of the Gulf states and the new Saudi king.
	US officials said Kerry will reassure them a deal with Tehran won't allow Iran to get the bomb and won't mean American complacency on broader security matters.
	Iran is supporting forces fighting in Syria and Iraq and is linked to rebels who toppled the government in Yemen.
	Kerry will also discuss the fight against Islamic State group militants in Syria and Iraq.

Kerry in Saudi Arabia to talk Iran, Yemen instability

Rajiv Joseph's new play "Guards at the Taj" has found its guards the Tony Award-nominated actors Omar Metwally and Arian Moayed.
	The Atlantic Theater Company said yesterday that the stars of "Sixteen Wounded" and "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" will headline the play set in 1648 India.
	Steppenwolf Theatre Company member Amy Morton will direct.
	Joseph's other plays include the Pulitzer Prize finalist "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo," ''Gruesome Playground Injuries," ''Animals Out of Paper" and "The North Pool." He also wrote for "Nurse Jackie."
	Performances of "Guards at the Taj" start May 20 with an opening night set for June 11.

Play 'Guards at the Taj' gets its Moayed and Metwally

In dramatic sea rescues north of Libya, a flotilla of ships saved more than 1,000 migrants and refugees, while 10 migrants perished in the southern Mediterranean, Italian officials said today.
	Rescue vessels, including from Italy's coast guard and navy, and three cargo ships saved 941 people in seven separate operations that began yesterday, Italy's coast guard said.
	Today, the coast guard and two cargo ships rescued 94 migrants whose motorized dinghy was in distress 40 miles (65 kms) north of Libya, the coast guard said.
	Survivors were ferried to southern Italian ports. The migrants rescued Tuesday had been aboard five motorized dinghies and two larger vessels. One of the larger boats capsized, and 10 bodies were spotted or plucked from the sea.
	For months now, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of migrants fleeing conflicts or poverty have been reaching Italy practically weekly on smugglers' boats setting sail from Libya.
	This year's pace has seen a sharp uptick from 2014's ...

Italy rescues nearly 1,000 migrants; 10 die

A US jury has found a Pakistani man guilty in a failed al-Qaida conspiracy to attack the New York City subway and targets in Europe.
	The verdict was reached today in a New York trial where Abid Naseer acted as his own lawyer.
Prosecutors say Naseer plotted in 2009 to bomb a shopping mall in Manchester, England.
	The charges were dropped after a British court found there wasn't enough evidence, but US prosecutors later charged him in a broader conspiracy that included a failed plot to bomb the New York subway.
	They said evidence showed Naseer was communicating with al-Qaida using women's names as code for explosives. The 28-year-old Naseer testified the emails contained innocent banter about his pursuit of a potential bride, not evidence of terrorism.

Pakistani man guilty in al-Qaida plot to attack NYC subway

Officials say at least three people have died in Chile's capital city after inhaling hydrochloric acid while working in the basement of a clinic.
	Firefighter chief Mauricio Repetto says two of the men were workers cleaning a septic tank at the San Cristobal clinic in 	Santiago's affluent Vitacura neighborhood. The levels of the acid accumulated until they lost consciousness. The other person, who worked for the clinic, was killed when he tried to rescue them.
	Officials cited by local media had earlier reported that today's deaths were caused by a blast sparked by a gas leak. But Santiago Mayor Claudio Dorrego dismissed those reports.
	Police have cordoned off the area near the clinic, and a special firefighters' unit that deals with hazardous materials is at the site.

Chile: at least 3 people die after inhaling acid

The Republican chairman and top Democrat on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee are stepping up their pressure on the Obama administration to support Ukraine with weapons to defend against attacks from anti-government insurgents backed by Russia.
	Victoria Nuland, the US ambassador to Ukraine, testified today that President Barack Obama has not yet made a decision on the issue.
	Nuland said the US deplores Russia's activities in neighboring Ukraine in a conflict that has claimed more than 6,000 lives. She says Obama has received recommendations and advice from cabinet agencies, but that he has not yet decided on the issue of sending arms to Kiev.
	Many European governments oppose any US move to provide military support for Ukraine's government, fearing that might spark a wider proxy war with Russia.

US official: Obama still weighing sending arms to Ukraine

Fresh from the latest round of Iran nuclear negotiations, US Secretary of State John Kerry headed to Saudi Arabia today to ease Gulf Arab concerns about an emerging deal and discuss ways to calm instability in troubled Yemen and other Mideast nations.
	Kerry left the Iran talks in the Swiss resort town of Montreux and took off for Riyadh where he will see the new Saudi monarch, King Salman, and meet separately with the foreign ministers of the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Sunni-ruled Gulf states, like Israel, are unnerved by Shiite Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons and its increasing assertiveness throughout the region.
	US officials say Kerry will reassure them that a deal with Tehran will not allow Iran to get the bomb and won't mean American complacency on broader security matters. Iran is actively supporting forces fighting in Syria and Iraq and is linked to Shiite rebels that ...

Kerry heads to Saudi Arabia to consult on Iran nuke talks

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went on trial for his life today in the Boston Marathon bombing with his own lawyer bluntly telling the jury he did it.
	But she argued that he had fallen under the evil influence of his older brother.
	Judy Clarke, one of the foremost death-penalty defence attorneys in the US, delivered a startling opening statement in the nation's most closely watched terrorism trial since the Oklahoma City bombing nearly 20 years ago.
	"It WAS him," Clarke said of Tsarnaev.
	Three people were killed and more than 260 hurt when two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the marathon's finish line seconds apart on April 15, 2013.
	Tsarnaev is accused of carrying out the attacks with his older brother, now dead.
	Laying out an argument clearly aimed at saving Tsarnaev from the death penalty, Clarke said that the defense will not try to "sidestep" his guilt for the "senseless, horribly misguided acts carried out by two brothers."
	"The evidence will not establish and we will not argue ...

Tsarnaev's lawyer admits he carried out Boston bombing

McDonald's says it plans to start using chicken raised without antibiotics important to human health and milk from cows that are not treated with the artificial growth hormone rbST.
	The company says the chicken change will take place within the next two years. It says suppliers will still be able to use a type of antibiotic called ionophores that keep chickens healthy and aren't used in humans. The milk change will take place later this year.
	Many cattle, hog and poultry producers give their livestock antibiotics to make them grow faster and ensure they are healthy. The practise has become a public health issue, with officials saying it can lead to germs becoming resistant to drugs so that they're no longer effective in treating a particular illness in humans.
	Chipotle and Panera already say they serve chicken raised without antibiotics, but the announcement by McDonald's is notable because of its size; the company has more than 14,000 US locations. Chipotle has nearly 1,800 ...

McDonald's dropping human antibiotics from chicken

About 500 people fled their homes in South Africa's city of Cape Town as a wildfire defied rain and firefighters with smoke and flames rising for a fourth day today.
	Three homes were destroyed and five more were damaged overnight by the fire that illuminated the night sky around Table Mountain National Park in a red and orange glow, an emergency spokeswoman said.
	Residents camped in a community center overnight or were taken in by family friends. Those who could, returned to their homes by the afternoon, said Cape Town disaster risk management spokeswoman Charlotte Powell.
	The fire was still not under control, but firefighters had enough resources to manage the burn, said another spokesman Theo Layne. No fatalities or new injuries had been reported, he said.
	About 150 firefighters are working 24-hour shifts in hot summer temperatures, Layne said. Residents were hopeful that predicted rain would end the blaze, but Layne said the short-lived rain showers were not enough to quell the 

Hundreds evacuated as wildfire in South Africa burns on

The New York City public school system is set to observe a pair of Muslim holidays for the first time.
	Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday that the system will close for Eid al-Adha for the first time next September. Summer school will also close for Eid al-Fitr in 2016.
	They are the first Muslim holidays to be recognized by the nation's largest school system, which educates 1.1 million kids.
	De Blasio says the change means "hundreds of thousands" of Muslim families will no longer have to choose between sending their kids to school or observing the holidays.
	The mayor made the announcement at a Brooklyn school where more than one-third of students were absent last Eid al-Adha.

Mayor: NYC public schools to close on 2 Muslim holidays

The British government has agreed to sell its stake in Eurostar, the high-speed rail service that connects London with Paris and Brussels through a tunnel under the English Channel, for 757 million pounds, a move that's prompted accusations that it is selling the family silver.
	The Treasury said today that a group of international investors, Canada's Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and UK-based Hermes Infrastructure, agreed to buy the government's 40-per cent stake for 585.1 million pounds.
	Eurostar, which began services in 1994 and has carried 150 million passengers, also agreed to redeem the government's preference share a share that carries no vote but ranks higher than ordinary shares when dividends are paid out for an additional 172 million pounds.
	The national railways of France and Belgium, SNCF and SNCB, could still stymie the bid as they have, in their capacity as co-owners, the option to buy the U.K. Government's stake but at a 15 per cent premium. The closing of ..

British government sells Eurostar interest for USD 1.1 billion

The Curiosity rover has temporarily stopped work on Mars while NASA engineers investigate a short circuit.
	The space agency said yesterday that the electrical problem was discovered over the weekend as Curiosity tried to transfer bits of powder from a rock that it had drilled into.
	The short circuit stopped the rover's robotic arm. Engineers are diagnosing the issue, and the testing is expected to take several days.
	Curiosity landed in a Martian crater in 2012. Since then, it has uncovered geologic evidence of an environment that could have supported microbial life early in the planet's history.

NASA investigating short circuit on Mars rover Curiosity

Iran is demanding the extradition of a suspected Iranian militant arrested in Pakistan.
	Today's report by the semi-official Fars news agency quotes General Masoud Rezvani as saying that Tehran is asking Islamabad to hand over Abdulsattar Rigi, arrested over the weekend in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province. Rezvani says Iran has handed Interpol the request for Abdulsattar, a cousin of Abdulmalik Rigi.
	Abdulmalik was the leader of a Sunni militant group known as Jundullah, or Army of God, which operates in southeastern Iran and has ties to the Baluch ethnic minority in neighboring Pakistan.
	Abdulmalik was arrested and executed by Iran in early 2011.
	A Pakistani official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the case, confirmed to The Associated Press the recent arrest of a senior Jundullah figure.

Iran demands Pakistan extradite suspected Iranian militant

Italy's Coast Guard is bringing nearly 1,000 migrants to southern Italian ports from several different boat rescues, but 10 migrants perished at sea.
	The Coast Guard today said its vessels and three cargo ships south of Sicily rescued 941 people in seven separate operations that began a day earlier.The migrants had been aboard five motorized dinghies and two larger vessels. One of the migrant boats capsized.
	Hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of migrants, fleeing conflicts or poverty, reach Italy weekly on smugglers' boats setting sail from Libya.
	The Coast Guard said the migrants claimed to be Syrians, Palestinians, Libyans, Tunisians or from sub-Saharan Africa.

Nearly 1,000 migrants rescued off Italy; 10 die

Authorities say a Las Vegas hospital mistakenly sent two dead babies wrapped in linens to a laundry facility, leading to a grisly surprise for the cleaners.
	The remains were in a load of laundry that Spring Valley Hospital sent yesterday to the medical laundry company Angelica in nearby Henderson.
	Henderson police spokeswoman Kathleen Richards says detectives determined it was an inadvertent mistake and it's not considered suspicious.
	Hospital spokeswoman Gretchen Papez says a woman who suffered a miscarriage early in her pregnancy had arrived at the hospital by ambulance with the dead twins already wrapped in linens.
	Papez says hospital officials are trying to determine how the mistake occurred.
	She says officials have been in contact with the family after the remains were returned to the hospital.

Vegas hospital sends miscarried babies to laundry by mistake

Undeterred by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's scathing speech against an Iran nuclear deal, US and Iranian negotiators resumed work today on an agreement meant to crimp Iran's atomic program in exchange for sanctions relief.
	With an end-of-month deadline looming to complete a framework accord, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sat down in the Swiss resort of Montreux for their third meeting this week to hash out details of an emerging pact.
	In Washington, Netanyahu yesterday told Congress that the agreement taking shape is dangerous and would allow Iran the ability to develop nuclear weapons.
	His speech drew standing ovations, mostly from Republican legislators. But US officials led by President Barack Obama criticised Netanyahu for not presenting any viable alternative to preventing Iran from getting the bomb.
	Iran, meanwhile, decried pushback from Obama meant to deflect Netanyahu criticism.
	Obama this week said that ..

US, Iran resume nuclear talks after Netanyahu speech

Britain's Prince William highlighted his interest in wildlife conservation on the final stop of his China tour today, feeding baskets of carrots to an elephant in the country's southwest.
	The second in line to the British throne visited an elephant sanctuary, where he met Ran Ran, a 13-year-old female elephant who was discovered in 2005 with a leg wound caused by an iron clamp trap.
	Handed carrots by the animal's keeper, William passed them to Ran Ran, who reached for more with her trunk even while her mouth was crammed full.
	The visit to Yunnan province, a tropical region bordering Myanmar and Laos that has been the focus of government efforts to stop poaching and reduce conflicts between people and elephants that eat their crops, was organised for William to learn how Asian elephants are surviving in the wild.
	There are about 250 wild Asian elephants in China, all in Yunnan, according to the province's forestry administration. The prince, who is patron and president of British ..

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