Mom of 14 signs TV deal

Mom of 14 signs TV deal

LOS ANGELES — The Southern California woman who gave birth to the world’s longest-surviving set of octuplets has signed a deal to star in a reality television series, her lawyer said Sunday.

Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to the six boys and two girls in January and also has six other children, agreed to be filmed for a proposed television show by 3Ball Productions, attorney Jeff Czech said.

The company, which is a subsidiary of Amsterdam-based Eyeworks International, hasn’t yet sold the show to any American television network, he said.

1st sermon in new church

BISCAYNE PARK, Fla. — A popular Miami priest nicknamed “Father Oprah” said Sunday that “church is about forgiveness” during his first sermon since leaving the Roman Catholic Church to become Episcopal amid an uproar over published photos of him kissing his girlfriend on the beach.

The Rev. Alberto Cutie (pronounced KOO’-tee-ay) gave the sermon at the Episcopal Church of The Resurrection in Miami. Episcopalian priests can marry, unlike their Catholic counterparts. It will take him at least a year to become a priest in his new church.

Taken by surprise by flu

WASHINGTON — Influenza experts are acknowledging that they were almost completely surprised by the way the current swine-flu outbreak unfolded, so much so it is forcing the world to rethink what a pandemic is and what pandemic preparedness means.

Virtually every assumption made since planning for a pandemic began in earnest after the deadly “bird flu” outbreak of 2004 in Southeast Asia has been contradicted by the six-week history of swine-origin influenza A (H1N1).

Although they acknowledged there might be alternative scenarios, nearly every expert assumed that the next pandemic strain would jump from birds to human beings someplace in Asia. They also assumed that, like the H5N1 bird-flu virus, which is lethal in 60 percent of people who catch it, the new strain would be recognized immediately and would have to be fought with drastic measures.

Instead, the virus emerged in North America, appears to have come from pigs, had spread widely by the time it was noticed, and kills less than 1 percent of the people it infects.

Bausch & Lomb settles 600 lens-cleaner suits

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Contact lens maker Bausch & Lomb Inc. had an overriding reason for going private in 2007: It wanted to handle a devastating recall of its flagship lens cleaner, its chief executive said, “without a lot of outside distraction.”

Over the past year, away from the glare of public scrutiny, the optical products company has quietly settled nearly 600 fungal-infection lawsuits — with dozens more individual claims yet to be resolved. The cost so far: Upward of $250 million.

More than 700 lens wearers in the United States and Asia say they were exposed to a potentially blinding infection known as Fusarium keratitis while using ReNu with MoistureLoc, a new-formula multipurpose solution for cleaning, storing and moistening soft contact lenses.

Harry’s self-doubts

LONDON — Prince Harry sometimes doubted his ability to become a pilot, thinking he was not cut out for the job, he said in an interview released to Britain’s Press Association news agency.

The 24-year old prince is training to be a pilot with the Army Air Corps. But he said he found some of the courses tough.

“There’s times when I thought, you know, I’m really not cut out for this, mentally. I hope I’ve got the physical skills to fly a helicopter,” he said. “But mentally, there are the exams and everything. I mean, I can’t do maths, I gave that up when I left school, as anyone does at that age. But I’ve been throwing myself back in the deep end.”

Details of Iraq pullout remain to be worked out

BAGHDAD — Thirty days before the deadline to withdraw U.S. combat forces from Iraq’s urban areas, it is still undetermined how many troops will remain in cities as commanders determine their new roles, a U.S. general said Sunday.

The U.S. military has repeatedly said it will abide by the requirements of an U.S.-Iraqi security agreement but has released little publicly about how it will meet the June 30 deadline or what the new distribution of its forces in Iraq will look like.

“It remains to be seen what the numbers will be,” Army Brig. Gen. Keith Walker, commander of the Iraqi Assistance Group, told reporters during a briefing in Baghdad.

Combined dispatches