Sonia Sotomayor, the U.S. Supreme Court justice who grew up in the Bronx, N.Y., was chosen to lead the 60-second countdown to 2014 on Tuesday night in Times Square and push the ceremonial button to signal the descent of the New Year’s Eve ball.

The Rev. Dan Lewis, the leader of Claremont United Methodist Church in California, defended a Nativity scene created by congregant and artist John Zachary that features a bloody Trayvon Martin in place of the infant Jesus, saying the depiction is intended to stir a community conversation about gun violence.

Ahmed Qadri, an al-Qaida militant, has been convicted and sentenced to death by a Yemeni security court for taking part in a 2010 bombing that killed a dozen soldiers at an intelligence facility in Aden, the country’s second-largest city.

Agung Bawa, an assistant security manager at the Bali Hyatt hotel in Indonesia, said a 15-foot python strangled Ambar Arianto Mulyo, a 59-year-old security guard trying to capture the snake at a nearby restaurant, and escaped into bushes.

Mustafa Elitas, a senior Turkish legislator, said the country could change its laws to allow the retrial of hundreds of military officers who were convicted of plotting to overthrow Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, after a political adviser suggested the officers were framed by groups within the judiciary.

Joyce White Vance, a U.S. attorney, announced that Germaine Foster, 36, of Maylene, Ala., and Sharon Harrison, 56, of Shelby, Ala., have been indicted over accusations that they stole more than $27,000 each in postal money orders and other government funds.

Carl Hull, Keith Turnbull and Phil Auchly of St. Paul, Mo., were credited with quick thinking after they rescued a black Labrador retriever that had fallen into an icy pond by placing a ladder over the ice and pulling the dog to safety.

Pervez Musharraf, the former Pakistani president who has been charged with treason for suspending the constitution in 2007, said the charges “smacked of a vendetta” by the government and refused to reveal whether he’ll attend a court hearing Wednesday.

Imir Williams pleaded guilty to beating girlfriend and Amish Mafia star Esther Schmucker on Oct. 31 and was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to have no contact with her.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/30/2013