Former France player David Ginola wants to challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency in a campaign backed by a bookmaker.

M&C Saatchi PR, acting on behalf of Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, told The Associated Press that Ginola will launch his campaign in London on Friday.

A judge has revoked Chris Brown's probation but allowed him to remain free for now after the R&B singer traveled without approval for a concert and failed to complete community service on time.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James R. Brandlin allowed Brown to remain free until a March 20 hearing when the judge will receive an update from probation officials.

A 62-year-old woman says she discovered a python on her bathroom floor when she went to take an overnight potty break.

Debbie LaMotte tells The (Sharon) Herald (http://bit.ly/1518hec ) that she first thought the snake was a scarf lying on the floor "because it had such a beautiful pattern." But when she prodded it with her cane, the snake's head moved.

A former substitute teacher who showed a movie featuring graphic sex and violence to a high school class has been convicted of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.

Sheila Kearns showed the film, "The ABCs of Death," during five periods of a Spanish class at East High School in Columbus in April 2013, prosecutors said. The movie consists of 26 chapters, each depicting some form of grisly death and representing a letter of the alphabet, such as "E is for Exterminate," ''O is for Orgasm" and "T is for Toilet."

Is "In Dog We Trust" your motto?

If so, a sheriff's office in Florida has a rug for you. The Pinellas County sheriff's office said Thursday it will auction off a rug that had "In Dog We Trust" on it instead of "In God We Trust."

This year's flu vaccine is doing a pretty crummy job. It's only 23 percent effective, which is one of the worst performances in the last decade, according to a government study released Thursday.

The poor showing is primarily because the vaccine doesn't include the bug that is making most people sick, health officials say. In the last decade, flu vaccines at their best were 50 to 60 percent effective.

At least 50 Ebola hotspots remain in the three hardest-hit West African countries but new cases are declining and the deadly disease will be defeated, the U.N.'s Ebola chief said Thursday.

The latest report from the World Health Organization showing reductions in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone "is very good news," Dr. David Nabarro said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The United States will send 400 troops to train moderate Syrian rebels this spring.

Pentagon spokesman Maj. James Brindle confirmed the planned deployment early Friday morning. The U.S. plan was first reported by Defense One Thursday.

Police said Thursday that a car ran into a policewoman guarding the French presidential palace, slightly injuring her, as the country is on high alert after the worst terrorist attacks in decades.

The Paris prosecutor's office said the incident at the Elysee Palace early Thursday had no link to last week's attacks.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, Bradley Cooper took his curtain call at Broadway's Booth Theater, where he's starring in "The Elephant Man." He then had to race to a meeting, conduct an interview for this article, and find time to eat and nap before taking the stage again for his 8 p.m. show.

There's definitely a lot going on for Cooper, who turned 40 earlier this month. Along with eight Broadway performances a week, he's busy promoting one of his biggest movies to date, as both actor and producer: Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper," in which Cooper transforms himself — to much critical acclaim — into late Navy SEAL marksman Chris Kyle, a real-life personality whom he looks and sounds nothing like.