In brief: Bus on school trip crashes, killing 15

BANGKOK – A double-decker tour bus carrying students on a school trip to the beach crashed Friday into a truck in eastern Thailand, killing 15 people and injuring more than 30 others, police said.

The fatalities included 13 children, between the ages of 10 and 15, and two teachers, said police Lt. Col. Anukarn Thammavijarn.

The bus was carrying about 60 girls. As it drove along a downhill road in the early morning darkness, it lost control and slammed into an 18-wheeler truck that was in front of it, Anukarn said. After making impact, the bus spun around and slipped off the shoulder of the road. Police were searching for the driver, who fled the scene.

Senator seeks probe of paralysis cases

WASHINGTON – Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer asked the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday to initiate a formal investigation into what has caused polio-like paralysis in about 20 children in California over the past 18 months.

Boxer said “we need answers” in her letter to CDC Director Thomas Frieden. In particular, she wants the agency to look into whether the illness can be traced to a virus or environmental factors.

Earlier this week, Dr. Keith Van Haren at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University said the disease seen in the children resembles polio, but is not the same as polio. Most of the children seen have so far not recovered use of their arms or legs.

New charge alleges Federal Reserve hack

NEW YORK – A British man accused of hacking into U.S. government computer networks was charged in a new indictment unsealed Thursday with infiltrating the Federal Reserve’s computers.

Lauri Love, 28, of Stradishall, England, was charged with computer hacking and aggravated identity theft, which carry a potential penalty of up to 12 years in prison. He initially was arrested in Great Britain in October and released on bail after he was charged under a United Kingdom law that permits the arrest of anyone who starts attacks from the U.K. on computers anywhere in the world.

In the latest case, prosecutors said Love broke into the Federal Reserve network between October 2012 and February 2013 and then posted on a website the names, email addresses and phone numbers of users of the Federal Reserve computer system.

‘Dating Game’ host Jim Lange dies at 81

SAN FRANCISCO – Jim Lange, the first host of the popular game show “The Dating Game,” has died at his home in Mill Valley, Calif. He was 81.

He died Tuesday morning after suffering a heart attack, his wife, Nancy, told the Associated Press.

Though Lange had a successful career in radio, he is best known for his television role on ABC’s “The Dating Game,” which debuted in 1965 and on which he appeared for more than a decade, playing host to many celebrity guests. Michael Jackson, Steve Martin and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others, appeared as contestants.

Public input sought on 3-source embryos

LONDON – Britain is inviting the public to weigh in on draft rules allowing scientists to create embryos using DNA from three people – a man and two women – to prevent mothers from passing on potentially fatal genetic diseases.

The latest public review should be the last step before politicians consider changing the law to let doctors offer the new fertilization techniques to patients. That would make Britain the first country in the world to allow the procedure to help people have children.

The government hopes to gather as many views as possible before introducing its final regulations. The proposed rules have been published online and the government is inviting people to respond by late May.