Ever since the TSA started putting back-scatter devices into use at selected airports last fall, I've been waiting to have the chance to opt out and register a one-woman protest against the machines. (Jeff Goldberg doesn't get to have all the fun.) However, most of my recent air travel has been with a tiny traveling companion, and I've been pleasantly surprised that at six different airports, TSA agents have directed us away from the back-scatter devices and through metal detectors, simply because I had a three-month-old baby in my arms.

(I also learned that the Irish-Catholic TSA agents in Boston will eagerly carry your luggage and reassemble your stroller when they learn your daughter's name is Finoula. I warned her not to expect such special treatment everywhere.)

So I was awfully pleased when I arrived at a security checkpoint in Miami International Airport this morning and discovered that my line fed into a back-scatter device, even though metal detectors were in use for the other lines. When it was my turn, I politely said that I would like to opt out. "Seriously?" the first TSA worker asked me with a raised eyebrow. Yes, seriously.

He directed me through the nearby metal detector (the one that would have been good enough if I'd just chosen another line) and motioned for me to wait for a pat-down agent: "Female opt-out!" A female agent led me to a table where she set my bags and then skeptically asked if I knew what the pat down involved. Yes, indeedy (thanks, Jeff Goldberg!) "Do you want to do this somewhere private?" No, thank you. The agent calmly explained what she was going to do before she performed each part of the procedure, and very briskly but thoroughly went through the pat-down. The whole thing was over in a matter of minutes and was a completely professional experience.

A Catholic priest who admitted having a sexual relationship with a high school girl more than 40 years ago was removed his position, and a high-ranking official who oversaw the background checks of priests resigned.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced Friday that the Rev. Martin P. O'Loghlen, who worked at Holy Name of Mary Church in San Dimas, was removed from any priestly activities.

The archdiocese said it was reacting to inquiries from a New York Times reporter researching an article about O'Loghlen.

The 74-year-old priest is accused of having a long-term sexual relationship with the teenage girl beginning in 1960, and seeking her forgiveness later, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony separately accepted the resignation of the Archdiocesan Vicar for Clergy, Msgr. Michael Meyers. Archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg told the Times that Meyers had been in charge of procedures intended to ensure that no sexual predators remained in ministry positions. He had held that position since 2009.

The archdiocese said it had not received any complaints about O'Loghlen during the two years he had been assigned to the San Dimas church.

A live-in male nanny who had a disturbing fetish for soiled nappies and kept a dirty one underneath his bed pillow has been jailed for 16 months.

Tony Barnes, 30, had 63 pornographic pictures of children and hundreds of babies and young girls in nappies on his laptop, a court heard.

He was arrested in 2009 after his boss - a mother-of-three from Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada - tried to close his laptop and found the sexually explicit pictures on his laptop.

Police searched his room after obtaining a warrant and found an 'abundance of diapers', including a dirty one under a pillow, Terry McComb, prosecuting, said.

They also found the pictures of children and a series of online chats in which he freely discussed sexually abusing children, often using soiled nappies.

He was hired five months before by the parents through Nannies International, which provided 'glowing work references', Mr McComb said.

'The family just thought he was golden - they thought he was great,' he added.

Egypt's new military administration and the pro-democracy protesters who brought down Hosni Mubarak were at odds today over the path to democratic rule.

The army sought to stave off pressure from jubilant protesters to swiftly hand power to a civilian-led administration by saying that it is committed to a "free democratic state".

The military leadership gave no timetable for the political transition, and many of the demonstrators who filled Cairo's Tahrir square for 18 days rejected the military's appeal to dismantle the barricades and go home.

They said they were waiting for specific commitments from the military on their demand for a civilian-controlled interim administration, the lifting of the oppressive state of emergency and other steps toward political liberalisation.

Former president under scrutiny over assassination of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto

Islamabad - A Pakistani court issued an arrest warrant for ousted military leader Pervez Musharraf on Saturday over allegations he played a role in the 2007 assassination of an ex-prime minister and rival. It was a major setback for the onetime U.S. ally, who was plotting a political comeback from outside the country.

Musharraf, who has not been charged, described accusations that he had a hand in the attack on ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as a smear campaign by a government led by her aggrieved husband.

The stunning allegation that Musharraf - a self-declared opponent of Islamic militancy - was linked to extremists accused in the attack was likely to keep him out of Pakistan, at least in the short term.

His possible arrest abroad did not appear imminent, but Pakistan's information minister, Firdous Ashiq, Awan said the government will contact Interpol about seeking Musharraf's detention if the court requests it.

Musharraf's spokesman said the former leader was in Dubai, with no plans to go to Pakistan. Speaking from London, where Musharraf has lived in self-imposed exile, Fawad Chaudri quoted him as saying that the accusations were "absurd and ridiculous."

Cairo's central Tahrir Square was the focal point for anti-Mubarak protesters during 18 days of demonstrations. As the protest neared its peak, the BBC's Yolande Knell took a tour of the area. Explore the protesters' camp...

At least 16 people have lost their lives and several others have been wounded in a series of attacks in the troubled southern Afghanistan.

Afghan officials say 15 of the victims are police officers as the attacks mainly targeted the police headquarters. Forty-five people have been injured in the attacks.

One intelligence agent is also reported to have been killed in Kandahar Province.

The provincial governor says a number of militants armed with guns and grenades were involved in the attacks.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Violence has been at its worst in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001.

The Afghan interior ministry has declared 2010 the deadliest year for civilians since the US-led invasion of the country in 2001. The ministry's spokesman said more than 2,000 civilians lost their lives in violence across Afghanistan.

At least 10 protesters have been killed and scores injured in the Egyptian city of El-Arish on the day that saw the historic overthrow of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Hours before Mubarak announced his resignation, government vigilantes clashed with pro-democracy protesters who surrounded a police station in the Egyptian city of El-Arish late Friday to free prisoners held by the regime, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Government forces then fired tear gas and live bullets to break up the demonstrators, killing at least 10 protesters and injuring 50 others.

Protesters, who were increasingly incensed by Mubarak's refusal to cede power in his televised speech a day earlier, eventually managed to secure the release of their friends and relatives during the melee, while twelve police officers surrendered to the crowd.

Thousands of Yemenis have taken to the streets of the capital, Sana'a, urging President Ali Abdullah Saleh to follow the example of ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.

The Saturday rally, which was approximately attended by 4,000, saw demonstrators chanting, "After Mubarak, it's Ali's turn," AFP reported.

"Get out, Get out Ali" and "The people want the regime to fall," some shouted.

Yielding knives and batons, hundreds of Saleh's supporters, attacked the protesters, injuring at least two of them, DPA said.

Mubarak handed power over to the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces on Friday, giving in to 18 straight days of pro-democracy protests.

• 400 arrested as officers enforce no-protest ban in Algiers
• Up to 5,000 protesters rally in Yemeni capital of Sana'a
• Arab leaders make concessions to avoid repeat of Egypt

Algerian police have beaten back around 2,000 demonstrators who tried to rally in central Algiers as aftershocks from the Egyptian revolution rumbled throughout the Middle East.

Demonstrations in Algiers quickly turned to running clashes with police who had been ordered by the government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to enforce a no-protest ban. Police took up positions throughout the centre of the city hours after the tumultuous scenes in Cairo, which are likely to have significant ramifications across the region.

Even before Egypt's Hosni Mubarak had stepped down, the 12-year regime of Bouteflika had been considered to be under most threat from the popular uprisings now galvanising the Arab states. Wedged alongside Tunisia, where President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was rolled 30 days ago, and near Egypt, which fell on Friday, the unstable nation has many of the characteristics of both - a disenfranchised youth and rising prices of basic goods, such as sugar and cooking oil.