A British surgeon said a first of its kind operation in Spain was nearly foiled when an airline refused to allow him to take stem cells on a plane. Bristol University Professor Martin Birchall, a voice specialist and ear, nose and throat surgeon, said he had to pay more than $20,000 for a private jet to Barcelona, Spain, after easyJet staff refused to allow him and his team to take the stem cells, which were being carried in a protective liquid, The Daily Mail reported Thursday. Birchall said the last-minute denial, which came after months of double-checking to ensure the cells would be cleared for transport, nearly stopped the team from arriving in Spain soon enough to perform the world's first windpipe transplant. We thought about driving to Barcelona but that would have taken too long, Birchall said.

A Winchester, England, school has denied claims that teachers have been checking students' underwear to be sure they comply with the dress code. Parents of 11- through 16-year-old students at Kings School said their students were told during assemblies that boys are only to wear white or black underpants and girls are to only wear white or light-colored unpadded bras, The Daily Mail reported Thursday. Some students claimed teachers were performing spot checks to ensure students were following the underwear rules. Stuart Gander, whose daughters Chelsea, 15 and Kirby, 13, attend the school, said his children were told that the school considers colored bras offensive. They were told they had to wear white ones or very light pale bras and they would be spot checked, Gander said.

A Connecticut man was arrested Thursday afternoon as he allegedly tried to cash a phony check wearing a phony U.S.

Three male and three female inmates at a southern Indiana jail face charges that they devised a way to sneak between cell blocks to help pass their time behind bars by having sex. The inmates figured out how to remove metal ceiling panels in the Greene County...

AP - A 24-year-old woman, on her first trip to Las Vegas, is worrying less about the nation's economy. That's because Jessica Agbunag won $2.4 million on Wednesday at a Wheel of Fortune slot machine at the California Hotel and Casino.

Polish researchers say they have solved an ancient mystery and identified the remains of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

George W. Bush is unlikely to find his name on a lot of buildings and geographical features after he becomes a former U.S. president Jan.

AP - A mid-Michigan man who'd been looking for work found trouble after an arrest warrant popped up during a background check at a police station. Police also found cocaine in his pocket. The company the man was applying to required a police background check.

Three men charged with attempted theft after they allegedly tried to dig up a grave have pleaded not guilty, said the Grant County, Wis., clerk of courts. Alex Grunke, his twin brother Nicholas Grunke and Dustin Radke pleaded not guilty Wednesday after they were charged with attempted theft in the 2006 incident, WISC-TV, Madison, Wis., reported Thursday. The criminal complaint against the men alleges they told officers they were trying to dig up a grave in the Cassville, Wis., St.

Officials with the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights said they had to call the police after a released prisoner refused to leave prison grounds. The officials said an officer from the Oak Park Heights Police Department was called to the facility Nov.

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy says the judges of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing should go.

Police in Duluth, Minn., said a pair of female burglars were drinking wine just 100 yards from the house they robbed and officers failed to spot them. Homeowner Robert Heller said he returned home from work Oct.

AP - A man says his cell phone saved his life. A stray .45-caliber bullet hit R.J. Richard's chest while he was mowing the lawn — hitting so hard he thought it was a stone kicked out by his tractor. He pulled out the phone. It fell apart.

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The seventh chess tournament between Princeton University and the New Jersey State Prison saw a surprising number of prisoner victories, participants said. The Inmates and Ivy chess tournament brought six Princeton students to the prison in Trenton to test their chess skills against a collection of convicted felons and thieves, The (Newark) New Jersey Star-Ledger reported Thursday. The Princeton students, who played several simultaneous games against groups of prisoners, said the event usually ends with the school nearly sweeping every game, with an occasional single prisoner victory during the tournament.

A Louisiana man said a stray bullet left him with only a bruise after the slug struck a cell phone in a pocket covering his chest. Ronald Richard said he was mowing his lawn Saturday when he felt a sharp impact on his chest, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Thursday. Richard initially thought he had been hit by a rock sent airborne by the lawn mower, but when he removed the nylon case of his Motorola Razr phone from a pocket on the bib of his overalls -- over his heart -- a .45 caliber bullet fell to the ground. I don't look at any of this as coincidence, said Richard, who suffered only bruising on his chest.

AP - A monarch butterfly has a chance at completing its species' famed migration to central Mexico thanks to some tiny cardboard splints, a bit of contact cement and a trucker from Alabama.

AP - Police are trying to figure out who keeps leaving chunks of meat on the town common, and why. Police said residents have been finding butcher-quality cuts of meat on the common for about five weeks. In the most recent incident, a resident discovered a large piece of raw, unwrapped meat, along with what appeared to be a liver and some bones on Tuesday.

AP - Law enforcement authorities arrested an 81-year-old man who illegally sold powerful prescription pain relievers. The arrest followed a raid on a home Monday by the Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement.

Authorities in Framingham, Mass., said they are attempting to determine the origins of butcher-quality cuts of mystery meat dumped on the Town Center common. Police said someone has been placing meat cuts at the location at least once a week for the past two weeks, WCVB-TV, Boston, reported Thursday. Investigators said the most recent find in the town square consisted of what appeared to liver and assorted bones.