Info Joe

A former football manager has provoked outrage by saying there is 'no place' for gay players in football.

Rudi Assauer, who was boss of Schalke in Germany, said: 'Perhaps they are OK in other sports but not in football.'

DENVER — A Colorado woman has been detained in Ireland in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate a Swedish cartoonist whose sketch offended many Muslims, a U.S. official said Saturday.

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, 31, was among seven people arrested in Ireland this week as authorities investigate an alleged plot to kill cartoonist Lars Vilks over a 2007 sketch depicting the head of the Prophet Muhammad on a dog's body. The drawing provoked terror front Al-Qaida in Iraq to offer a $100,000 bounty for his slaying.

The U.S. official was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

After the arrests, U.S. authorities unsealed terror charges against Colleen LaRose, 46, of Pennsylvania. She allegedly went by the name "Jihad Jane" to recruit others online to kill the cartoonist.

It's not clear whether Paulin-Ramirez might face terror charges.

Her mother Christina Mott, of Leadville, Colo., told The Associated Press that she learned of her daughter's arrest in the case from the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies.

Denver FBI officials said Friday they couldn't confirm that the FBI had contacted Mott about the case.

Dean Boyd, a Justice Department spokesman, said the agency was aware of the arrests in Ireland but had no comment on the identities of those taken into custody. "Our investigation continues," he said.

Mott said that Paulin-Ramirez told her family after she left in September that she went to Ireland with her 6-year-old son and married an Algerian whom she met online. Before abruptly leaving Colorado, Paulin-Ramirez had been a straight-A nursing student, her mother said.

Earlier this week, Irish authorities announced the arrest of seven Muslims in the alleged plot, only identifying them as three Algerians, a Libyan, a Palestinian, a Croatian and an American woman married to one of the Algerians. They were arrested Tuesday, hours before U.S. authorities unveiled a terror indictment against LaRose.

On Saturday, Irish police said that three of those arrested had been released without charges, while three other men and an American woman remain in custody.

Irish police refused to confirm whether Paulin-Ramirez is the woman in custody, and have declined to release the identities of any of those arrested.

The Wall Street Journal, quoting anonymous sources familiar with the case, first reported on its Web site that Paulin-Ramirez was being held in the alleged plot.

Christine Mott said she's concerned for the welfare of her grandson, who has been placed in the custody of Ireland's foster care system.

"This is about my baby," Christine Mott said. "We need some help to get this baby back. I'm concerned about my daughter but I'm concerned about our baby boy because he shouldn't be caught in the middle of this."

The Motts said Paulin-Ramirez announced to her family last spring that she was converting to Islam and began wearing headscarves, and later a hijab.

"It came out of left field," Christine Mott said. "I knew she was talking to these people online... What caused her to turn her back on her country, on her family and become this person? I don't know how or why. All I know is she was in contact with this Jihad Jane.

"The only thing I could think of is that they brainwashed her."

Irish police say LaRose visited Ireland in September and spent about two weeks with the Algerian-American couple and other suspects. Investigators believe she began communicating last year with the Irish-based suspects in member-only Internet chat rooms.

Her stepfather, George Mott, said the FBI seized a desktop computer in late September but did not tell the family what they found.

Christine Mott said her daughter was getting 4.0 grades as she studied to become a nurse practitioner and was working a $30,000 job at Eagle Valley Medical Clinic in nearby Edwards.

The Motts said Paulin-Ramirez began to withdraw and argue with her parents about her religion in the months after announcing her conversion.

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Barrett reported from Washington.

ATLANTA — An attorney for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has hired a private investigator to look into a sexual assault allegation made by a 20-year-old Georgia college student.

Police in the college town of Milledgeville continue to investigate, but have released little information since the accusation was made a week ago.

The two-time Super Bowl champ's lawyer, Ed Garland, said he has hired his own investigative team.

"Any lawyer representing anyone needs to know all the facts so that he can perform his duties," he said.

Roethlisberger has not been charged, and Garland said "no criminal conduct took place."

Carl Cansino, a lawyer for the club where the woman says the assault took place, said he was contacted Friday by the private investigator, Charles Mittelstadt. Cansino was also on hand when authorities interviewed club manager Rocky Duncan Wednesday.

Police Chief Woodrow Blue said at a Monday news conference that investigators expected to speak to Roethlisberger this week. He said Friday that the investigation continues at a steady pace but declined to comment on any details, including whether authorities had interviewed Roethlisberger or asked him for a DNA sample.

"We haven't set any kind of timetable," he said. "Where the investigation leads us will determine that."

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is also working on the case, but agent Tom Davis in Milledgeville did not return calls seeking comment. Agency spokesman John Bankhead said only that the investigation is ongoing.

Lawyers for the woman who accused Roethlisberger released a statement earlier in the week saying their client is cooperating with authorities and asking the media to respect her privacy. They have not responded to calls and e-mails from The Associated Press seeking additional comment.

Photos have also surfaced online of Roethlisberger smiling alongside the officer who wrote the initial incident report early on March 5. The police chief said the photos were taken hours before the allegation was made.

Blue said Friday he wasn't concerned about the photos, saying the officer, Sgt. Jerry Blash, and others had seen Roethlisberger earlier in the evening. Beyond filing the report, Blash has not been involved in the investigation, Blue said.

WASHINGTON — The football players at Calvin Coolidge Senior High School, Mayor Adrian Fenty and a room full of cheering staff needed only one word to describe her: coach.

Natalie Randolph, a 29-year-old biology and environmental sciences teacher, was introduced Friday as the coach of the school's Coolidge Colts. She's believed to be the nation's only female head coach of a high school varsity football team.

"While I'm proud to be part of what this all means," Randolph said, "being female has nothing to do with it. I love football. I love football, I love teaching, I love these kids. My being female has nothing to do with my support and respect for my players on the field and in the classroom."

The news conference drew the kind of attention usually reserved for the Washington Redskins and was delayed nearly two hours so Fenty, who is up for re-election this year, could be there and proclaim "Natalie Randolph Day" in the city.

Randolph was chosen from about 15 candidates after the previous coach resigned. The Washington native and University of Virginia track star played six seasons as a receiver for the D.C. Divas of the National Women's Football Association, helping the team win the title in 2006.

She also was an assistant coach from 2006-08 at another D.C. high school, H.D. Woodson, where opposing coaches would throw funny looks her way when told she was on the staff.

Now she's a head coach, ready to dispel naysayers. And she doesn't plan to do it by screaming in the kids' faces.

"I'm probably more Tony Dungyesque," said Randolph, who has a copy of the Super Bowl-winning coach's book. "I'm soft-spoken, so me yelling is not me. I'm going to be me. That's what I do in the classroom. When I get observed, the observers say 'I didn't expect you to be able to handle this class,' but I do what I have to do to get it done."

Randolph's fiance, Thomas Byrd, warned that Randolph's polite demeanor could be misleading – "She packs a mean punch," he said – and her Divas teammates were on hand to describe the grit that kept her playing on a severely injured ankle several years ago.

But Randolph will no doubt have to work a bit harder than the average coach to win the respect of players, opposing coaches and the football community at large.

Keith Bulluck, a 10-year NFL veteran, posted on Twitter that he's "not saying it can't be done or shouldn't be done. Football is clearly a mans sport & it's 2 be seen how young men take to their coach being a woman."

Randolph, her hair in dreadlocks with blonde highlights, wore a stylish necklace Friday. Some of her players already know and respect her – she's been a teacher at the school for two years. They also know players on other teams will have a field day talking trash.

"I need trash talk as my ammunition to do better," junior defensive tackle Daniel West said. "There's nothing like proving somebody wrong. And I think that's what we're going to have to do this season – because a lot of people have something to say about her being our coach, and I feel like it's my duty and it's the team's duty to prove everybody wrong, to show that it doesn't matter. As soon as we start winning, everybody will want to be on the bandwagon."

Coolidge went 6-4 last season under coach Jason Lane and has a state-of-the-art field, so it's not necessarily a school that needs to draw attention. Principal Thelma Jarrett insisted that in "no way" was this a publicity stunt.

"On the field, in the classroom – we'll prove 'em wrong," Jarrett said.

Added Randolph: "People are always going to think negative things. I know what the deal is. My administration supports me, the kids support me. So that's all that really matters."

The schedule, however, poses an unusual challenge. Her fiance is the offensive coordinator at Woodson. That should make for an interesting week when the rivals play.

"Good competition, good fun," she said with a smile. "I love you all over there, but we're going to beat you on the field and go hang out later."

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AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this report.

SEOUL, South Korea — A hospital official says former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is recovering after being hospitalized in the South Korean capital with stomach pains.

Severance Hospital spokesman Lee Sung-man said Saturday that Kissinger would be released on Sunday. He did not give any further details.

The 86-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate arrived in Seoul earlier in the week to attend a security forum. He also met with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

Kissinger served as secretary of state for presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Michael Lewis, author of one of the defining books about Wall Street excess, "Liar's Poker," told 60 Minutes that bonuses at banks bailed out by the government are akin to "a very elegant form of theft."

[The big banks] have access to a zero percent loan in virtually unlimited quantities from the Federal Reserve. You can take that money and reinvest it in Treasury bonds or government agency securities and you will get the spread and you could do it over and over. You're essentially borrowing from the government ... and taking a cut.

Really what's going on is the people on the top of the firm want to make a lot of money and if they're going to make a lot of money, they have got to pay the people under them a lot of money,

WATCH:

NEW YORK — Golf clubs in hands or not, the kids of "South Park" are ready to take on Tiger Woods.

Creators of the Comedy Central cartoon have long since proven that no subject is sacred to them. So for the opening of its 14th season on Wednesday, the troubled golfer encounters Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman in their animated Colorado town.

"It's such an important issue in America right now – the sex addiction outbreak," Matt Stone, who makes the series with partner Trey Parker, said on Friday. "We're all really concerned about him and hope he gets better."

Sex addiction, the intersection of powerful men and willing women, late-night phone calls to the police and bad public relations gave them so much fodder they could have made an entire Tiger-centric season, Stone said.

Since the Peabody Award-winning show's first episode in 1997, Parker and Stone haven't worried about lines between good taste and bad if they can get a laugh. They mocked the Church of Scientology to the point of annoying Tom Cruise, and depicted Jesus Christ defecating on President Bush and the American flag.

"There's a delicacy in talking about (Woods) that we don't have to worry about," Stone said.

He wouldn't give many details about the episode, in part because he and Parker were still writing it on Friday. Stone said he was fascinated and disgusted by Woods' public apology, so it's likely that will be worked in.

"South Park" is airing its 200th episode next month.

"We can't even believe we're still here doing this," he said.