COMBINED BRIEFS

The federal government would pay for GPS tracking devices for autistic children under legislation proposed Sunday by Sen. Charles Schumer and named for a New York City boy who wandered away from his school three months ago and was found dead in a city river. “Avonte’s Law,” named for 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo, would provide $10 million to pay for the high-tech device that could be worn on the wrist, kept in a wallet or sewn into clothing. Avonte walked away from his Queens school in October, and his body was found in the East River earlier this month.

PENNSYLVANIA

Agency eyes sex assault reports

The U.S. Department of Education is looking into Penn State’s handling of sexual harassment and sexual assault complaints to see if it had responded appropriately to those reports in the years surrounding the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal that engulfed the university. The federal agency informed Penn State of the investigation in a letter Thursday, and said in a statement Sunday that it had concerns after it reviewed Penn State’s sexual harassment policy and saw a huge spike in “forcible sex offenses” reported to the federal government by the university. The spike coincided with the Sandusky scandal that broke in 2011.

ITALY

Birds attack doves freed by pope

Two white doves that were released by children standing alongside Pope Francis as a peace gesture have been attacked by other birds. As tens of thousands of people watched in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, a seagull and a large black crow swept down on the doves right after they were set free from an open window of the Apostolic Palace. One dove lost some feathers as it broke free from the gull. But the crow pecked repeatedly at the other dove. It was not clear what happened to the doves as they flew off.

TUNISIA

Constitution passes after two years

BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA, Associated Press

After decades of dictatorship and two years of arguments and compromises, Tunisians on Sunday finally have a new constitution laying the foundations for a new democracy. The document is groundbreaking as one of the most progressive constitutions in the Arab world — and for the fact that it got written at all. It passed late Sunday by 200 votes out of 216 in the Muslim Mediterranean country that inspired uprisings across the region after overthrowing a dictator in 2011.

CALIFORNIA

Students sue to end tenure law

Nine California public school students are suing the state over its laws on teacher tenure, seniority and other protections that the plaintiffs say keep bad educators in classrooms. The case that goes to trial Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court is the latest battle in a growing nationwide challenge to union-backed protections for teachers in an effort to hold them more accountable for their work. The nonjury trial is expected to wrap up in March.

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS

Officials probe illnesses on cruise

U.S. health officials Sunday boarded a cruise ship docked in the U.S. Virgin Islands to investigate an illness outbreak that has stricken at least 300 people with gastrointestinal symptoms that include vomiting and diarrhea. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 281, or nearly 10 percent, of the 3,050 passengers aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Explorer of the Seas have reported getting sick during a Caribbean cruise that left Cape Liberty, N.J., on Tuesday. Twenty-two crew members also reported feeling ill.

AUSTRALIA

Crocodile takes one boy, mauls another

Rangers resumed hunting today for a 13-foot crocodile that snatched a 12-year-old boy and mauled his friend as they swam in a water hole in a popular Outback tourist destination in northern Australia. The missing boy was taken by a saltwater crocodile as he and four other boys swam on Sunday afternoon at Mudginberri Billabong in World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park, southeast of the Northern Territory capital of Darwin, Police Sergeant Stephen Constable said. Moments earlier, his 12-year-old friend was mauled as he fought the crocodile and sustained deep wounds to both arms.

KENTUCKY

Chef’s body found in river

The body of a University of Kentucky chef who disappeared last month from his Lexington home was found in 4 feet of water in the Kentucky River. Alex Johnson’s body was in a 55-gallon blue barrel near the shore. The coroner’s office was called Friday morning about the barrel, and a coroner confirmed human remains were inside. Johnson had been missing since Dec. 20 when he ended a phone call with his girlfriend by saying he needed to answer the door at his home. The discovery of the body comes several days after police arrested a man in Texas who was wanted on a murder charge in the case.