Briefly . . . NATION/WORLD
SAN FRANCISCO - Instagram, the popular mobile photo-sharing service now owned by Facebook, said Tuesday that it will remove language from its new terms of service suggesting that users' photos could appear in advertisements.
SAN FRANCISCO
- Instagram, the popular mobile photo-sharing service now owned by Facebook, said Tuesday that it will remove language from its new terms of service suggesting that users' photos could appear in advertisements.
The language in question had appeared in updated policies announced Monday and scheduled to take effect Jan. 16. After an outcry on social-media and privacy- rights blogs, the company clarified that it has no plans to put users' photos in ads.
What had riled users and privacy advocates was Instagram's assertion that it may now receive payments from businesses to use its members' photos, user name and other data "in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation" to them.
Ireland lawmakers push abortion debate
DUBLIN
- Ireland's government pledged Tuesday to pass a law soon that will allow women to receive abortions if continued pregnancy threatens their lives - including from their own threats to commit suicide if denied one.
The announcement comes after decades of inaction on abortion in Ireland, and just weeks after the predominantly Catholic country faced international criticism over the death of an Indian woman hospitalized in Ireland with an imminent miscarriage.
Health Minister James Reilly said that parliamentary hearings on the issue would begin next month and that lawmakers would be expected to vote on it by the summer. This would mark the first time that Irish lawmakers have ever voted on abortion.
Cons give cops the slip
CHICAGO - A massive manhunt was under way Tuesday night for two bank robbers who pulled off a daring escape from downtown Chicago's high-rise jail early Tuesday morning by apparently squeezing through a narrow window and scaling down about 20 stories using a makeshift rope.
Police helicopters and canine units swarmed the area, but not until more than three hours after Joseph "Jose" Banks and Kenneth Conley went unaccounted for during a 5 a.m. headcount.
Both men are facing hefty prison sentences, and the FBI said they should be considered armed and dangerous.
Google helps bring Dead Sea Scrolls to life
JERUSALEM
- Israeli authorities say they have put 5,000 fragments of the ancient Dead Sea scrolls online in a partnership with Google.
The digital library, launched Tuesday, is part of a broader attempt by the custodians of the celebrated manuscripts to make them widely available.
"Now, everyone can touch the scroll on-screen around the globe," said Shuka Dorman, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Pa. man dead after standoff with cops
HARRISBURG
- Authorities say a man is dead after a nine-hour standoff in which more than 100 shots were fired at a central Pennsylvania housing project.
Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico says 24-year-old Abel Roman was found dead early Tuesday morning following a dangerous standoff that left one officer wounded.
It was not immediately clear how Roman died.
Authorities were trying to serve a warrant on Roman at a Harrisburg apartment when he reportedly fired a shot and threatened to kill himself.
-Daily News wire services