A 6-year-old Texas boy whose father has been accused of carving a pentagram on the child’s back has been released from a hospital.

Richland Hills police Sgt. Nathan Stringer says officers planned to speak with the boy Thursday about the attack a day earlier. Police say the child’s father called 911 and said he inscribed a pentagram on his son because it was “a holy day.”

It is not clear which faith he was referring to. Wednesday’s date was 12-12-12, a once-in-a-century event.

Brent Troy Bartel was being held in jail on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Police say they plan to seek a mental evaluation.

Stringer says the child was discharged Wednesday night from a Fort Worth hospital. Details on his treatment weren’t immediately available.

Police have arrested a Lincoln woman they say beat her 14-year-old daughter after the girl tried to take her mother’s alcohol.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the 31-year-old woman faces a child abuse charge.

Police say the girl returned home after school on Monday to find her mother drinking and tried to take the alcohol. Officers say the mother hit her daughter 30 times in the face, neck and chest. Arresting officers say the woman’s blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal driving limit of .08.

The woman’s daughter and a 6-year-old child were taken into temporary protective custody.

Court documents say the mother has a history of alcoholism and leaving her children with others and not returning to pick them up.

The world’s most popular online mapping system returned late Wednesday with the release of the Google Maps’ iPhone app. The release comes nearly three months after Apple Inc. replaced Google Maps as the device’s built-in navigation system and inserted its own maps into the latest version of its mobile operating system.

Apple’s maps proved to be far inferior to Google’s. The product’s shoddiness prompted Apple CEO Tim Cook to issue a rare public apology and recommend that iPhone owners consider using Google maps through a mobile Web browser or seek other alternatives until his company could fix the problems.

Google Inc. says its new map app is better than the one that used to be on the iPhone.

A team of experts in suburban Chicago makes it a mission to get fragile items from online retailers to customers during the holidays and all year long.

Their lab looks like a torture chamber for cardboard and bubble wrap. It’s the UPS Package Design and Testing Lab in Addison where engineers test new packaging designs by dropping, shaking and smashing boxes with brutal-looking equipment.

A typical test takes four hours. Boxes get a 900-pound hug from the compression table. They crash 17 times from the drop tester. They endure the cruelty of the bridge impact tester. They shake for two hours on the vibration table, which mimics a bumpy truck ride

The point is to see what type of packaging can withstand the trip, protecting the products inside.

At least five newborns have come into the world with a little once-a-century good luck.

They arrived at 12:12 on 12-12-12.

Ohio’s WTTE-TV says Tiffaney and Joshua Diles of Chillicothe welcomed son, Austin Matthew, at 12:12 a.m. Wednesday.

Three girls and a boy clocked in 12 hours later.

Noelle Joy Klinker was born in Boston to parents Colleen and Joe Klinker.

In Fremont, Neb., Robin Heaton gave birth to daughter, Zoey.

The New York Post reports, an as yet unnamed baby girl was born to Michael and Olivia Patterson of Manhattan.

And the (Newark) Star-Ledger says Debbie and Joe Turner of Brick, N.J., who survived Superstorm Sandy, have their own little reminder — son Carson Hurricane Turner.

Prosecutors are appealing the dismissal of anti-paparazzi driving charges that had been filed against a photographer accused of recklessly chasing Justin Bieber in California.

The appeal filed Wednesday argues that a criminal court judge erred last month when he dismissed two counts filed under California’s 2010 anti-paparazzi law against Paul Raef, a freelance photographer.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Rubinson ruled the statute was overly broad and violated the First Amendment.

The appeal claims the ruling could set a precedent that newsgatherers can engage in reckless driving without facing stiff penalties.

The law targeted those found guilty of unsafe driving in pursuit of a photo for commercial use.

Raef still faces traditional reckless driving charges for the July chase involving Bieber on a freeway.

Tobacco companies have introduced almost no cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products in the U.S. in more than 18 months because the federal government has prevented them from doing so.

An Associated Press review has found that the Food and Drug Administration has not ruled on nearly 3,500 product applications. About 90 percent have lingered for more than a year, much longer than the expected 90-day review process.

FDA officials say the applications have languished because of “significant deficiencies” and because the agency is taking extra care in reviewing products that pose public health risks.

Industry executives say cigarettes haven’t changed in any meaningful way and the delays don’t make sense. At the same time, tobacco watchdogs say there are signs cigarette makers are skirting the process with some new products.

A North Texas man is accused of carving a pentagram on his 6-year-old son’s back, telling a 911 dispatcher that he did it because “it’s a holy day.”

Richland Hills police say Brent Troy Bartel faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He’s jailed in lieu of $500,000 bond.

Sgt. Nathan Stringer says Bartel called 911 early Wednesday morning and said he’d shed innocent blood. Wednesday’s date is 12-12-12, a once-in-a-century event.

Officers in the Fort Worth suburb say they arrived and found that most of the child’s back was covered with a large pentagram. Richland Hills police also recovered a box cutter they believe was the weapon used to cut the boy.

The child was taken to a hospital. His condition was not immediately released.

A Los Angeles judge revoked Lindsay Lohan’s probation and scheduled a violation hearing that could result in more jail time for the 26-year-old “Liz and Dick” star.

The actress faces three counts of reckless driving, lying to a police officer and obstructing an officer from performing duties after an accident in which Lohan’s Porsche slammed into the back of a dump truck in June.

Authorities allege Lohan lied about being behind the wheel before the accident and the charges could prompt a probation violation in her 2011 necklace theft case.

Lohan did not appear in court Wednesday. She was represented by her attorney.

The hearing is set for Jan. 15.

A New Jersey girl who started a campaign calling for an Easy-Bake Oven in gender-neutral colors is planning to meet with the people who design it.

Toy maker Hasbro says it has invited 13-year-old McKenna Pope and her family to meet with the Easy-Bake team Monday at its Pawtucket headquarters.

Hasbro’s Julie Duffy says they invited McKenna in to listen to her thoughts and ideas.

McKenna was prompted to start an online petition after she wanted to buy an Easy-Bake Oven for her 4-year-old brother and found them only in purple and pink. Several top chefs, including Bobby Flay, have since asked Hasbro to make them in more colors.

Duffy says Hasbro has made the toy in gender-neutral colors in the past and believes it’s great for girls and boys.