COMBINED BRIEFS
LOUISIANA
Crews work to clear derailed train
Crews began replacing about 1,800 feet of track Monday around the site of a derailed train that leaked a corrosive chemical and forced the evacuation of about 100 south Louisiana homes. The Union Pacific train went off the tracks Sunday near Lawtell, about 60 miles west of Baton Rouge. Company spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza said the cause is under investigation. Espinoza said about 150 residents in an area 1½ miles around the accident site are affected by the evacuation. She said it’s unclear how long those families will be asked to remain out of their homes.
PLEASE DELETE THE SCHOOLS NOT IN YOUR COVERAGE AREA
IOWA
University claims top
party school title
College students consider the University of Iowa the nation’s best party school, even though Iowa City has tried to make its famous bar scene less hospitable to underage drinkers. The Princeton Review bestowed Iowa with the top ranking Monday on a list determined by 126,000 students in a nationwide survey. The organization also released its “stone-cold sober schools” list — led again this year by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
The University of Florida in Gainesville ranked sixth and Florida State University in Tallahassee ranked 12th among party schools.
Ohio University in Athens ranked seventh and Miami University of Ohio in Oxford ranked 16th among party schools.
The University of Georgia ranked 11th among party schools. Among sober schools, Wesleyan College in Macon came in seventh, and Agnes Scott College in Decatur ranked 15th.
The University of Texas at Austin ranked 15th among party schools.
NEW YORK
Man accused of trying to sell baby
A 22-year-old man angry with a woman he dated posted photos of her 2-month-old daughter on Craigslist and tried to sell the baby for $100, prosecutors said Monday. Paul Marquez posted an ad titled “baby for sale,” prosecutors said. Marquez was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, harassment and a social service violation of authority to place or board out children. He was being held in lieu of $1,000 bail. A call to his attorney wasn’t returned. There was no indication Marquez actually meant to sell the infant.
PENNSYLVANIA
Court: School can’t ban cancer bracelets
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a Pennsylvania school district cannot ban “I (heart) Boobies!” bracelets, rejecting the district’s claim that the slogan — designed to promote breast cancer awareness among young people — is lewd. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also concluded that school officials didn’t prove the bracelets were disruptive. The ruling is a victory for two Easton Area School District girls who challenged the school rule in 2010 with help from the American Civil Liberties Union. Easton is one of several school districts around the country to ban the bracelets.
PAKISTAN
Taliban talking secretly to Kabul government
The Taliban have held secret talks with representatives of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to try to jumpstart a peace process that stumbled and stalled at the starting gate, according to Afghan officials and a senior Taliban representative. The discussions with members of the Afghan High Peace Council have so far been unofficial and preliminary, seen as an attempt to agree on conditions for formal talks. But they do suggest an interest on both sides in proceeding, or at least toying, with a peace process that has been mired in controversy since the official opening of a Taliban political office in June in the Gulf nation of Qatar.
BRAZIL
Thousands urge return of pet monkey Chico
When two police officers tore little Chico from the arms of Elizete Carmona, they said it was for his own good. After all, 71-year-old women aren’t meant to live with endangered tufted capuchin monkeys. But the case has upset many in Brazil, and thousands of people have signed an online petition calling on Sao Paulo state environmental officials to return Chico to the only home he’s known for the past 37 years. It’s illegal to keep wild animals as pets in Brazil, especially those classified as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species, as the tufted capuchin monkey has been. But the Carmona family contends Chico is completely domesticated and might not survive the stress of separation.
SPAIN
Pedophile’s pardon embarrasses two countries
Spain had a seemingly simple request for Morocco’s king: Pardon 18 Spaniards convicted in his country, and let 30 others return to Spain to serve out their prison terms. Instead, the monarch pardoned 48 Spanish prisoners, including a man convicted of raping children. The apparent bureaucratic mix-up has embarrassed both nations, prompting rare protests in Morocco and an ultimately successful scramble to find the freed pedophile. It has also raised legal questions about the fate of the other 29 Spaniards believed incorrectly pardoned. Police captured 63-year-old Daniel Galvan Vina in southeastern Spain on Monday after nearly a week of freedom. Galvan had been convicted of raping 11 children.
