Fla. school board backs transgender bathroom ban

Fla. school board backs transgender bathroom ban

OCALA, FLA.

A school board in north Florida plans to restrict access to school bathrooms based on a person’s biological gender.

The Ocala Star-Banner reports that the Marion County School Board reached a consensus Thursday on a resolution that would ban transgender students from using bathrooms for the gender with which they identify. The board plans to take a final vote next week.

The issue was raised recently when a teacher reported that a transgender student who was born female but identifies as a male at Vanguard High school was using the boy’s restroom.

Hundreds walk dogs as part of protest

SAN FRANCISCO

Hundreds of owners walked their dogs Saturday to protest the proposed limits on dog-walking in San Francisco’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Andrea Buffa, an event organizer and member of Save Our Recreation, said protesters are calling on the National Park Service to keep dog walking in the open-space areas where it has been allowed for decades.

In February, the National Park Service released its near-final dog rule, which limits walking dogs off-leash in the recreation by up to 90 percent and on-leash dog walking by up to 45 percent. Park officials say their plan is needed to balance the needs of different park users.

Professor hacked to death in Bangladesh

NEW DELHI

A university professor on his way to work in northwestern Bangladesh was hacked to death Saturday in an attack similar to other killings by suspected Muslim militants, police said.

A.F.M. Rezaul Karim Siddique was attacked on his way to the state-run university in the city of Rajshahi, where he taught English, deputy police commissioner Nahidul Islam said. The attackers used sharp weapons and fled the scene immediately, Islam said.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, accusing Siddique of calling for atheism, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites. No further details were available.

Trans-Atlantic trade deal is focus

BERLIN

When President Barack Obama opens the world’s largest industrial fair in the northern German city of Hannover today, he’ll be leading a delegation of American companies hoping to conquer new markets abroad. He’ll also be trying to complete one of his presidency’s main pieces of unfinished business – a trans-Atlantic trade pact.

Officials in Washington and Brussels are trying to clinch key parts of the deal before the end of the year.

Proponents of the agreement – known as the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP – argue that lowering tariffs and harmonizing rules would give a much-needed boost to businesses.

Solar plane flies over Golden Gate

OVER THE PACIFIC OCEAN

A solar-powered airplane has reached the San Francisco Bay area after 56 hours of flight over the Pacific Ocean.

Pilot Bertrand Piccard is performing a fly-by over the Golden Gate Bridge as spectators watch the narrow plane with extra-wide wings from below.

Solar Impulse 2 is on an around-the-world journey to promote renewable energy and the spirit of innovation.

The plane took off last March from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and it has made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China, Japan and Hawaii.

Associated Press