A woman has sued a Chicago-area sperm bank after she became pregnant with sperm donated by a black man instead of a white man as she and her partner had intended.
	The Ohio woman is seeking damages and wants to ensure the sperm bank doesn't make a similar mistake again.
	Within days of their wedding in New York, Jennifer Cramblett and Amanda Zinkon had become pregnant with the donor sperm. In April 2012, five months into her pregnancy, Cramblett, 36, called Midwest Sperm Bank LLC outside Chicago to reserve sperm from the same donor in the hope that Zinkon, 29, would someday also have a child.
	That's when Cramblett received some disturbing news, says a lawsuit filed Monday against Midwest Sperm Bank in Cook County, Illinois: She learned from a sperm bank employee that she had been inseminated with sperm from the wrong donor.
	Cramblett said they had chosen sperm from a man known as No. 380, a white donor. The sperm used for insemination came from No. 330, a black donor, she ...

White US woman sues over sperm from black donor

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The defense lawyer for the head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights says his client was ordered detained for seven days over a tweet in which he said that many Bahraini men who joined terrorist groups like the Islamic State group came from the country's own security institutions.
	Nabeel Rajab was detained yesterday for questioning.
	Lawyer Jalila al-Sayed says Rajab was referred to the public prosecutor today and ordered to remain in detention another seven days pending investigation.
	The Interior Ministry says Rajab was summoned because his tweet "denigrated government institutions."
	Rajab wrote that security institutions are "the first ideological incubator" for Bahrainis who joined the Islamic State group fighting in Iraq and Syria.
	He previously served two years in prison for leading anti-government Shiite protests.

Lawyer: Bahrain rights activist detained for tweet

Health officials in Texas say they have reached out to about 80 people who may have had direct or indirect contact with the man infected with Ebola or someone close to him.
		Dallas County Health and Human Services spokeswoman Erikka Neroes said today about 80 people are now part of the "contact investigation." Neroes said no one is showing symptoms.
	She says the number includes 12 to 18 people who first came into contact with Thomas Eric Duncan, as well as others known to have secondhand contact.
	Health officials have educated the people on the symptoms of Ebola and told them to notify health workers if they feel ill.
	Health officials are focusing on containment to try to keep the virus from spreading. Duncan recently traveled from Liberia to Dallas.

Officials ask about 80 to watch for Ebola symptoms

A website covering news about Myanmar was defaced by hackers today, a few days after its director won a prestigious press freedom award.
	Aung Zaw said the attack on The Irrawaddy website was one of many it has faced. The attackers replaced the site's home page with a statement accusing it of supporting "Jihad and Radical Muslims."
	Aung Zaw linked the attack to a recent commentary he wrote about Buddhist extremists apparently backed by undemocratic members of the military.
	Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation, has been grappling with sectarian violence that has left up to 300 people dead and more than 140,000 homeless, most of them Muslims attacked by Buddhist extremists.
	Aung Zaw was one of four recipients of this year's International Press Freedom Award from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which said The Irrawaddy had been branded an "enemy of the state" by Myanmar's former military regime and still comes under pressure from the current elected but ...

Myanmar news website defaced by hackers

Islamic State group militants launched an assault today on a small town in western Iraq, a military spokesman said, as the United Nations warned that 10 months of violence in the country has taken a heavy toll on civilians.
	Iraq is in its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of US troops as Sunni militant groups led by the al-Qaida breakaway Islamic State group have seized a third of the country since early this year. In one lightning offensive over the summer, Iraq's US-trained army and security forces melted away as the extremists advanced and captured key cities and towns in country's north.
	In Iraq and along with areas in eastern Syria, the militants have declared a self-styled caliphate and imposed their own harsh interpretation of Islamic Shariah law. They have also targeted the country's religious minorities, including Christians and others, killing hundreds and forcing hundreds of thousands to leave their homes.
	The attack today against the town of Hit started at dawn ...

Islamic State militants attack small Iraq town

Retired archbishop Desmond Tutu has sharply criticised the South African government after the Dalai Lama did not receive a visa to travel to South Africa.
	The Tibetan spiritual leader, labelled a separatist by China, had sought a South African visa so he could attend a meeting of Nobel peace laureates in Cape Town on October 13-15.
	Tutu, a friend of the Dalai Lama and a fellow Nobel peace laureate, said this week that it is shameful that the Dalai Lama cannot attend a meeting meant to honour anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, who died last year.
	Tutu says the Dalai Lama was also prevented from travelling to South Africa in 2011 to attend Tutu's 80th birthday party because South Africa did not want to offend China, a close business partner.

South Africa government criticised over Dalai Lama

Two suicide car bombings near an eastern airport in Libya killed seven troops and wounded 12 people today, a spokesman for a renegade general said, as fierce clashes erupted nearby between the general's forces and the extremist militias trying to take over the airfield.
	Col Mohammed Hegazi told The Associated Press that the bombers targeted checkpoints 1 kilometre away from the Benina airport in Benghazi.
	The airport is the only site still under the control of renegade Gen Khalifa Hifter after he was defeated by a coalition of Islamist militias, including the extremist group Ansar al-Shariah. That group is blamed for the deadly September 12, 2012, assault on the US Consulate in Benghazi that killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
	Hegazi said that the Hifter-allied Libyan air force later launched airstrikes to prevent the Islamist militias from taking over the airport.
	A spokesman of the February 17 brigade, part of the Islamist coalition, told Libyan ...

Official: Suicide bombers kill 7 at Libyan airport

Thai police say two workers from Myanmar have confessed to killing two British tourists whose nearly naked, battered bodies were found last month on a beach on the scenic island of Koh Tao.
	Police Maj Gen Kiattipong Khawsamang said today that two out of three Myanmar workers questioned by police admitted murdering Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24.
	He said the other worker denied involvement.
	Police Lt Gen Jaktip Chaijinda said police will wait for the results of DNA tests from the suspects to see if they match samples taken from Witheridge's body.
	Thai police have searched for clues and collected DNA samples from more than 100 men on the island in the Gulf of Thailand since the bodies were discovered September 15.

Thai police: 2 men admit killing British tourists

Pope Francis has convened his ambassadors from across the Middle East for three days of meetings to try to better protect Christians targeted by Islamic militants.
	Francis attended today's session, which brought together Vatican envoys from Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Turkey. They were joined by various heads of the Holy See bureaucracy.
	Francis has denounced the persecution of Christians in Syria and northern Iraq by Islamic militants and said it was legitimate to stop their advance. Earlier this week, his No 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, told the UN General Assembly that multilateral intervention using a "proportionate use of force" was both "licit and urgent."
	The Vatican is particularly worried about the Islamic assault since 2,000-year-old Middle East Christian communities are being emptied.

Pope convenes Mideast envoys amid Islamic threat

Danish lawmakers have confirmed the government's proposal to send seven F-16 fighter jets to join an international coalition to take part in airstrikes against the Islamic State extremist group.
	In a 94-9 vote with 76 absentees, lawmakers today sent four operational planes and three reserve jets along with 140 pilots and support staff for 12 months. The fighters will be based in Kuwait and will not deploy in Syria.
	The Danish contribution also includes some 120 military trainers to school Iraqi and Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State group on the ground.
	The US-led coalition is contributing a wide range of efforts, from carrying out airstrikes to providing military assistance and humanitarian aid.

Denmark votes to send jet fighters to Iraq

The Chinese government might be using smartphone apps to spy on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, a US security firm says.
	The applications are disguised as tools created by activists to protests, said the firm, Lacoon Mobile Security.
	The firm said that once downloaded, they give an outsider access to the phone's address book, call logs and other information.
	The identities of victims and details of the servers used "lead us to believe that the Chinese government are behind the attack," said a Lacoon statement.
	China is, along with the United States and Russia, regarded as a leader in cyber warfare research. Security experts say China is a leading source of hacking attacks aimed at foreign governments and companies to computers in China.
	The Chinese government has denied engaging in cyberspying and says China is among the biggest victims of hacking attacks.
	Lacoon said it found two similar "malicious, fake" apps that appeared to be related. One targets phones that run ...

Firm says phone apps spy on Hong Kong protesters

Authorities say a blast at an explosives factory in northwestern Bulgaria may have killed as many as 15 people.
	The explosion, which also left three people injured, occurred near the village of Gorni Lom, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Sofia.
	Police said smaller explosions continued for several more hours.
	Civil Defence chief Nikolai Nikolov said today that the site cannot be inspected by rescue teams until at least 24 hours after the last blast and only then he will he be able to give the exact number of victims.
	The cause of the explosions at the factory, owned by a private Bulgarian company, is not immediately clear. In two previous accidents at the site six people have been injured.

15 feared dead in explosives factory blast

Real Madrid and Liverpool found their combined 15 European titles were no protection on the road in the Champions League.
     Ten-time champion Real Madrid trailed early against Bulgarian newcomer Ludogorets Razgrad, which was only formed as a club 13 years ago - in the same season the Spanish giant won its ninth title.
     After Ludogorets' stunning sixth-minute opener, Cristiano Ronaldo had a penalty saved and then scored with a second spot-kick in the 24th, before Madrid got substitute Karim Benzema's 77th-minute goal to force a 2-1 win.
     "We played as equal to Real and I am delighted with our performance," Ludogorets coach Georgi Dermendzhiev said.
     Five-time winner Liverpool lost 1-0 at Basel, which specialises in beating English opponents, and trails Group B leader Madrid by three points before hosting the title holder next.
     "I thought we were too soft all over the pitch," Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said, adding his team "didn't deserve anything" against ...

Madrid win late, Liverpool lose in Champs League

A bomb threat called into Sandy Hook Elementary School has led authorities to order students, including many who lived through the 2012 massacre, out of the building.
	Police yesterday checked the school building and grounds after the threat was received at 9:30 am (Local time) and did not find evidence of danger, according to Monroe Police Lt Brian McCauley.
	He said the evacuation was ordered as a precaution and the investigation is continuing.
	"All students and staff are safe," Newtown First Selectman E Patricia Llodra said in a written statement. "The building and grounds will be thoroughly searched and cleared of any concern."
	After the December 2012 shootings, students enrolled at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown began taking classes at a school in the neighboring town of Monroe, also called Sandy Hook Elementary. The original school building was torn down last year.
	Classes were dismissed early and students were moved to a nearby school in Monroe to be picked up by ...

Threat leads to evacuation of Sandy Hook school

Irfan Khan, a naturalised US citizen from Pakistan with a wife and two children, worked hard to realise the American dream after arriving in this country in 1994.
	He held jobs in South Florida as a taxi driver, service technician and operated a limousine company. He was an avid cricket player. Then he stepped up to a California computer industry job in 2011 that promised a good living.
	A short time later, Khan was indicted along with his father and brother, both Muslim imams at Florida mosques, with conspiring to provide up to USD 50,000 to the Pakistani Taliban terror group.
	Khan spent 319 days in solitary confinement before federal prosecutors abruptly dropped all charges in June 2012. "It was very, very hard," Khan said of his days spent praying and reading in that lonely cell.
	Later, a federal judge ordered the acquittal of Khan's brother for lack of evidence, although their elderly father, Hafiz Khan, was convicted at trial and sentenced to 25 years behind bars. He's serving .

Man cleared in Taliban terror case suing US

The White House says President Barack Obama believes it was in the best interest of the Secret Service for Director Julia Pierson to resign.
	Pierson offered her resignation today amid intense scrutiny over security lapses at the White House.
	White House spokesman Josh Earnest says Obama concluded that new leadership of the agency was required. He says Obama called Pierson today to thank her for her service to the Secret Service and to the US.
	Earnest says Obama has full confidence in Joseph Clancy. He's the former special agent taking over as acting Secret Service director.
	Earnest says the administration is awaiting a review to determine whether more people will be leaving.
	Pierson's resignation comes after a man with a knife made it deep into the White House.

Obama: New leadership was needed at Secret Service

A man accused of jumping a fence at the White House pleaded not guilty today to charges that he ran into the presidential mansion while carrying a knife.
	A lawyer for Omar J. Gonzalez's lawyer, David Bos, entered the plea on his client's behalf in a 20-minute proceeding that grew contentious because of a disagreement between Bos and US Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson.
	Wearing a standard prison-issue orange jump suit, Gonzalez sat attentively at the defense table but did not address the court.
	Robinson wants Gonzalez to undergo a forensic screening to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. Bos opposed that, telling reporters he does not want to provide the government with an extensive amount of information about his client that would be revealed by a forensic screening.
	Bos said Gonzalez is competent to stand trial, an assertion that marked the start of a dispute over whether Gonzalez will have to undergo the screening.
	A three-count federal grand jury indictment ...

Not guilty plea for man in White House incident

The top US and Chinese diplomats publicly aired differences today over the protests in Hong Kong, where students want democratic changes to the electoral system.
	Secretary of State John Kerry met at the State Department with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi as the stand-off between students and authorities intensified in the Chinese territory the stiffest challenge yet to Beijing's authority since China took control of the former British colony in 1997.
	The protesters oppose Beijing's decision in August that all candidates in an inaugural 2017 election for the territory's top post must be approved by a committee of mostly pro-Beijing local elites. Tens of thousands of people have rallying against that decision in Hong Kong's streets since late last week.
	"We believe in open society with the highest possible degree of autonomy and governed by rule of law is essential for Hong Kong's stability and prosperity, and we have high hopes that the Hong Kong authorities will exercise ...

US, China air differences over Hong Kong protests

High-ranking US lawmakers from both parties are urging Secret Service Director Julia Pierson to resign. Congressional support is eroding following her poorly received testimony about the White House break-in.
	The office of Sen. Chuck Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democrat, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, a leading Republican, said the senators would call for Pierson's resignation on Wednesday. And Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a senior Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Pierson should either resign or President Barack Obama should fire her.
	House Speaker John Boehner said Pierson's appearance before a House panel yesterday "left us with more questions than answers." Boehner stopped short of calling for Pierson's resignation but backed a call for an independent investigation.

Key lawmakers want Secret Service chief out

The Norwegian government rejected Oslo's bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics today amid financial concerns, meaning the candidacy will almost certainly be dropped.
	Oslo's withdrawal would leave just two cities in the race: Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan.
	Members of the ruling Conservative party members voted against providing government financial guarantees for the bid. The junior partner in the minority coalition voted against four months ago.
	Norwegian news agency NTB reported that the city of Oslo said it had withdrawn its application for government financial backing because it likely would not be approved by Parliament, which ultimately decides the fate of the bid.
	"I had hoped for a different result tonight," Oslo Mayor Stian Berger Roesland said. Parliament is expected to vote later this fall on the issue, but government opposition means it likely will reject the bid.
	Stockholm; Krakow, Poland; and Lviv, Ukraine, had pulled out earlier from the 2022 race.
	Before that, ...

Norway government rejects 2022 Winter Olympics

Former President Jimmy Carter celebrated his 90th birthday today in Atlanta, blowing out three candles representing the past, present and future and thanking family and friends for their support and love.
	"It's been a good first 90 years," the 39th president joked before telling the crowd gathered in a chapel on The Carter Center grounds that he is looking forward to much more work. Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, founded the international health and human rights organization after leaving the White House.
	Carter said his life was most shaped by his marriage to Rosalynn and growing up in Plains, Georgia, where he worked and played with black children who didn't have the same rights as he because of their race. Carter said he still feels guilt for not realizing sooner how wrong that was.
	Being elected president, he said, was the highlight of his political life. However, he said he's had the "best times" of his life since establishing The Carter Center, "this beautiful place on earth .

AP

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