Nation, world briefs 4/2/15

Iran nuclear talks extended again

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- With even a vague outline of an Iran nuclear deal eluding their grasp, negotiators headed for double overtime Wednesday night in a marathon attempt to find common ground for a more important task -- forging a final deal by the end of June. Iran and six world powers had cited progress in abandoning their March 31 deadline for the basic understanding that would prepare the ground for a new phase of negotiations on a substantive deal. But as differences persisted into late Wednesday, the State Department announced Secretary of State John Kerry was postponing his departure and would remain until at least this morning. The talks -- the latest in more than a decade of diplomatic efforts to curb Iran's nuclear prowess -- will hit the weeklong mark today.

Bodies recovered at Alps jet crash

SEYNE-LES-ALPES, France -- Just over a week after a Germanwings plane crashed into the French Alps, investigators have finished retrieving human remains from the crash site and are trying to match them with DNA profiles from the 150 people killed -- an arduous task that could leave families waiting for months. The extraordinary recovery process mobilized hundreds of people and cut a stony road into a forested Alpine mountainside to help the team bring back anything they found, from a body part to a tiny shred of skin. Not a single intact body was found. Francois Daoust, head of the France's IRCGN national criminal laboratory in Pontoise outside Paris, said as of Monday afternoon, the forensic teams on the site and in Paris had isolated 78 distinct DNA profiles from the hundreds of samples recovered at the site -- leaving nearly as many unaccounted for. Meanwhile, they had received complete DNA profiles for only about 60 victims from their relatives because it takes time to gather samples from families still reeling from their loss.

11 convicted in cheating scandal

ATLANTA -- In one of the biggest cheating scandals of its kind in the U.S., 11 former Atlanta public school educators were convicted Wednesday of racketeering for their role in a scheme to inflate students' scores on standardized exams. The defendants, including teachers, a principal and other administrators, were accused of falsifying test results to collect bonuses or keep their jobs in the 50,000-student Atlanta school system. A 12th defendant, a teacher, was acquitted of all charges by the jury. The racketeering charges carry up to 20 years in prison. Most of the defendants will be sentenced Wednesday.

-- Associated Press