Egypt, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, is trying to avoid clashing with Washington over its very different approach to dealing with the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, an Israeli expert said here on Thursday.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is hosting a summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday. Jordan's King Abdullah II will be there as well.

But Mubarak is seeking a different outcome than the one discussed earlier this week between Olmert and President Bush, said Dr. Yoram Meital, chairman of the Chaim Herzog Center for Middle East Studies and Diplomacy at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

President Bush and Olmert met this week and reiterated their support for Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, his Fatah faction and the new government Abbas installed following the violent Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip last week.

Olmert has described the Hamas takeover as a "new opportunity" for Israel to engage in peace negotiations with Abbas while isolating Hamas.

"Egypt is not speaking the same language as Israel and the U.S.," Meital said in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Police say a motorcyclist and the woman riding with him were going more than 70 miles an hour -- and neither was wearing a helmet -- when the bike hit street sign and a concrete staircase in York County.

Thirty-four-year-old George Sparks Junior of Windsor pleaded guilty Tuesday to homicide by vehicle, reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol in the September 17th crash that killed 34-year-old Rhea Baldwin of Airville. Common Pleas Judge Penny Blackwell said Sparks' blood-alcohol level was zero-point-19 percent, more than twice the legal limit.

Sparks agreed to serve one to seven years in prison, have no alcohol for seven years, and turn in his motorcycle license. He could have been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison. Blackwell scheduled sentencing for July 23rd.

A former high school teacher has pleaded guilty to having sex with a 17-year-old boy on the school's football team.

33-year-old Darcie Esson pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust. Prosecutors dropped two other sexual assault charges as part of a plea deal.

Esson faces a sentence ranging from probation to an indeterminate life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors say Esson had sex with the teen in a Glenwood Springs motel room in November while the Elizabeth High School football team was out of town for a playoff game.

Authorities say Esson's two young children and a teenage baby sitter were asleep in the room at the time.

The school is in Parker, about 135 miles east of Glenwood Springs. An arrest warrant affidavit says Esson had no official role in the team's trip.

School Superintendent Bob Neel says Esson resigned her teaching job in December.

Ohio State basketball player David Lighty pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and was fined $250 in a case involving a jogger who was shot with a BB gun last year.

Two of Lighty’s former teammates at Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School in Cleveland also entered pleas in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas on Tuesday.

Jimmy McLeod and Darryl Rushton each were fined $100 after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct, a minor misdemeanor.

James Nugent, 55, was not seriously hurt last June when he was hit in the back by at least one plastic BB while jogging on the VASJ track. In Cleveland, BB and pellet guns are considered firearms and it is illegal to have them in public places.

Nugent said Tuesday that he had forgiven the 19-year-old defendants and thought the sentences handed down by Judge Kenneth Callahan were fair.

After he was sentenced, Lighty shook Nugent’s hand. Lighty told the judge he wanted to apologize “to Mr. Nugent, to my family, my community and my school.”

Lighty, a 6-foot-5 guard-forward, started seven games last season as the Buckeyes set a school record for victories with a 35-4 record. He was at his best as a defensive specialist who hit some big shots during Ohio State’s run to the national championship game, where the Buckeyes lost to defending champion Florida.

The Humane Society of the United States and Weil, Gotshal & Manges have filed what they believe to be the first class action lawsuit against a U.S. puppy dealer, alleging that the company sold puppies with genetic defects and contagious parasitic infections and failed to reimburse customers for the sick animals or their medical problems.

Weil Gotshal, led by New York litigator Paul Ferrillo, filed the lawsuit on a pro bono basis on behalf of the Humane Society in Broward County Circuit Court against the south Florida-based Wizard of Claws. The lawsuit so far represents about 100 class members, said Jonathan Lovvorn, who heads up the Humane Society's litigation department. Each representative will have damages of $2,000 to $5,000, making the lawsuit worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.

The sale of sick and dying puppies to customers who were unable to receive reimbursement for either the price of the sick dogs or veterinary treatments that sometimes cost thousands of dollars violated Florida animal and consumer protection laws, the Humane Society said. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory damages and injunctive relief against the further sale of puppies by Wizard of Claws.

A Web site for Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based Wizard of Claws shows photos of various breeds of puppies for sale. All puppies are checked by a veterinarian and "all our attention goes to their well being," the site says. The company says it "backs up our puppies 100 percent." A Wizard of Claws representative declined comment and referred calls to owner James Anderson, who was not available.

Ferrillo, who was drawn to the case in part by his affection for his Jack Russell terrier, investigated the puppy dealer and brought the case with help from a team of about a dozen lawyers in Weil Gotshal's Miami and New York offices in addition to Humane Society attorneys.

The complaint alleges that Green and Baine fraudulently prepared a return for one customer—a gospel singer––that claimed that he purchased 6,214 gallons of diesel fuel for off-highway business use. The suit notes that for the claim to be accurate the gospel singer (whose total income for the year was less than $2,341) would have to have spent approximately $12,248 to purchase that volume of fuel, and would have to have driven approximately 24,280 offroad miles during the year, an average of 340 miles each day of the year.

The government complaint alleges that the IRS has identified more than $150,000 in fraudulent fuel tax credits in returns TAS Services prepared.

The Justice Department obtained an injunction in April against a Miami tax preparer in a case involving allegations of similar fraudulent fuel tax credits. http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv07254.htm

Since 2001 the Justice Department has obtained injunctions against more than 240 tax preparers and tax-fraud promoters. Information on those cases is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2007.htm. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at www.usdoj.gov/tax