ABUJA, Nigeria

Military fears girls would be killed in rescue attempt

Nigeria’s military has located nearly 300 school girls abducted by Islamic extremists but fears using force to try to free them could get them killed, the country’s chief of defense said Monday.

Air Marshal Alex Badeh told demonstrators supporting the much criticized military that Nigerian troops can save the girls. But he added, “we can’t go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back.”

He spoke to thousands of demonstrators who marched to Defense Ministry headquarters in Abuja, the capital. Many were brought in on buses, indicating it was an organized event.

Asked by reporters where they had found the girls, Badeh refused to elaborate.

BANGKOK

Thailand’s military ruler warns against protesting

Bolstered by an endorsement from Thailand’s king, the nation’s new military ruler issued a stark warning Monday to anyone opposed to last week’s coup: Don’t cause trouble, don’t criticize, don’t protest – or else the nation could revert to the “old days” of turmoil and street violence.

Speaking in his first public appearance since the coup, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha defended the army’s takeover, saying he had to restore order after seven months of increasingly violent confrontations between the now-ousted government and demonstrators who had long urged the army to intervene.

“Everyone must help me,” he said, adding: but “do not criticize, do not create new problems. It’s no use.”

The tough words came as an aide to former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she had been released Monday from military custody.

CAIRO

Presidential election turns into nationalist celebration

Egypt’s presidential election on Monday turned into a nationalist celebration at many polls with voters singing and dancing for the almost certain winner – former military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who last year ousted the first freely elected president.

But the first day of voting in the two-day election also illustrated the bitter divisions that have riven Egypt since the military’s removal of Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi. In towns where Islamists dominate, voting was often thin or non-existent.

The 59-year-old retired Field Marshal el-Sissi is looking for more than a landslide victory from the election. He’s hoping for a strong turnout to show international critics that his July 3 ouster of Morsi reflected the will of the people – and to claim popular support as he tries to tackle Egypt’s daunting economic woes.

ORLANDO, Fla.

Fresh, not frozen, eggs lead to in vitro landmark

A 46-year-old from Orlando has become the oldest woman to have a baby through in vitro fertilization using her own fresh – not frozen – biological eggs.

Belinda Slaughter delivered her first child – a healthy baby boy – last September.

The case was published in the May issue of Fertility and Sterility, a journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

– From news service reports