NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Nashville man was charged with disorderly conduct and public intoxication after he repeatedly harassed entertainer Cher at the famed honkytonk Tootsies Orchid Lounge. Police say 36-year-old Calvin Hutton Houghland tried to make contact with Cher at the club early Wednesday morning and was asked to leave. …

JERUSALEM – An Israeli military exercise over the Mediterranean appears to have been less a dry run for an attack on Iran than a message that Tehran must curb its nuclear ambitions, according to officials and experts. U.S. defense officials suggested last week that the drill was a dress rehearsal …

GLOUCESTER, Mass. – A Massachusetts woman and her boyfriend both pleaded guilty to federal charges for posting pornographic photos of the woman’s 8-year-old daughter online. Kendra D’Andrea and Willie Jordan pleaded guilty to production of child pornography and conspiracy to produce child pornography. Jordan is scheduled to be sentenced July …

DENVER – A New York woman accused of punching a flight attendant in the face on a JetBlue Airways flight is being held in Colorado. Christina Elizabeth Szele, 35, of Woodside was advised Wednesday in U.S. District Court of charges of assault and interference with flight attendants. An affidavit prepared …

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A Birmingham strip club has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former dancer who claimed she was injured in a wreck because she was forced to drink alcohol on the job. Opelika attorney Robert Poole, who represents The Furnace, said former dancer Patsy …

ALBANY, N.Y. – Internet providers Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner Cable have agreed to block access to child pornography and eliminate the material from their servers, New York’s attorney general said Tuesday. The companies also will pay $1.1 million to help fund efforts to remove the online child porn created …

A former stripper dropped her $25 million suit against Oscar De La Hoya on Monday after experts concluded photos of the super welterweight champ in drag that she claimed were real had been digitally doctored, the New York Daily News reported. “Oscar’s always claimed the photos were false,” the boxer’s …

BERLIN – Police say a dozen students and one teacher have been injured by an explosion in a high school chemistry class in central Germany. Police spokeswoman Jasmin Kaatz says glass flask containing 1 1/2 liters (2.1 pints) of nitric acid exploded in an 11th-grade class at a high school …

“American Idol” finalist Kristy Lee Cook recently signed a record deal with 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville. This will be the second time Cook, 24, has signed with the label — as a teen she was signed but was dropped before she recorded anything. Her album, which will arrive in the fall, …

RANGOON, Burma – Calling coverage of the aftermath of a devastating cyclone distorted, the military junta of Burma — also known as Myanmar — lashed out at foreign media and its own citizens Friday. The attack came after authorities detained a popular comedian who had just returned from helping survivors …