Combined briefs package

IRAQ

Lawmakers’ pensions under fire

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Iraqi cities on Saturday to protest lawmakers’ perks despite an intense security crackdown, while bombing and shootings in and west of the capital killed 13 people in the latest bout of sectarian unrest rocking the country. Protest organizers demanded an end to what they claim are generous pension benefits granted to members of parliament. Demonstrators also aired long-standing grievances about widespread corruption and the poor state of public services. Iraqi lawmakers are entitled to monthly pension payments of several thousand dollars per month regardless of how long they serve.

OHIO

Botched surgery sparks lawsuit

A family has filed a lawsuit over a botched kidney transplant in which a nurse threw out a man’s viable kidney just before it was to be given to his sister. The family said at first they assumed the woman had died because her scheduled surgery ended so soon. Sarah Fudacz, 25, was to receive her brother’s kidney at the University of Toledo Medical Center in August 2012 but awoke without having undergone surgery. Hospital staff recovered the kidney from the trash, and Fudacz said she saw it sitting in an incubator-like box, contaminated with biowaste and no longer usable. The hospital later helped Fudacz find a new kidney and pay for travel expenses to Colorado for the surgery, which was successful. The hospital denies medical negligence and wants the case dismissed.

NIGERIA

At least 24 killed in ambush

Suspected Islamic sect members ambushed and killed at least 24 members of a youth vigilante group who were on a mission to find and fight the sect in northeast Nigeria, a security official said Saturday. Those who returned from Friday’s attack told officials that 36 other vigilantes were missing. The vigilante group, known as the Civilian Joint Task Force, has become a target for Boko Haram, an armed Islamic group that has been waging a bloody war in Africa’s most populous nation. Many residents welcome the vigilantes and credit them for some initial relative peace. Others find their existence troubling and worry that they may cause human rights abuses.

NEW MEXICO

Clinic offers ‘Breaking Bad’ rehab

An Albuquerque mental health clinic is using the hit show “Breaking Bad” and its methamphetamine trafficking theme to help fight addiction. KRQE-TV reported that Sage Neuroscience Center partnered with HealthShire.com to give away two addiction-treatment scholarships at the end of the AMC television series. The “Breaking Addiction” awards are open to residents in the Albuquerque area 18 and older who cannot afford treatment. Applicants have to submit their story of addiction, which will be compiled into a collection for addiction awareness and posted online. “Breaking Bad” was filmed largely in Albuquerque. The show is airing its final season.

WYOMING

Dick Cheney’s daughter criticizes sister

Mary Cheney, the younger sister of Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Senate candidate, sharply criticized her sister’s stance on same-sex marriage. Posting on Facebook on Friday evening, Mary Cheney, who is gay and married her longtime partner last year, wrote: “For the record, I love my sister, but she is dead wrong on the issue of marriage.” Liz Cheney said she is not “pro-gay marriage” and that states should decide the issue, not judges or legislators. Their father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, supports same-sex marriage, and the younger Cheney echoed some of his language on the issue when she added, “Freedom means freedom for everyone.”

EGYPT

Suspected ‘spy’ bird detained

Police detained a migratory bird after a citizen brought the suspicious fowl to the police station, saying he suspected it of being a spy. The man found the suspicious bird among four others near his home and brought them to the station Friday, said Mohammed Kamal, the head of the security in the region. Officers and the man puzzled over an electronic device attached to the suspected winged infiltrator. They discovered it was a wildlife tracker used by French scientists to follow the movement of migrating birds, said Ayman Abdallah, the head of Qena veterinary services. Abdallah said the device stopped working when the bird crossed the French border, absolving it of being an avian Mata Hari.