CUSTOMS SEIZES RUBBER DUCKS FOR CHEMICAL SAFETY: LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Southern California have seized nearly 36,000 Chinese rubber ducks that contain levels of a chemical that may be unhealthful for children.

The ducks decorated as Santas, Snowmen and other holiday figures were seized Dec. 4 by officers and import specialists at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The customs agency said Friday that it worked with the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission in determining that the ducks contain an excessive level of a regulated phthalate, a chemical used to make vinyl and plastics soft and flexible.

The rubber ducks were valued at more than $18,000.

NYC SUBWAY RIDER HELPS FELLOW RIDER ON TRACKS: NEW YORK (AP) — New Yorkers do care: A fellow rider helped a man who wound up on the subway tracks.

It occurred days after another man was pushed to his death in front of an oncoming train. No one seemingly came to his aid.

Voice of America journalist Margaret Besheer says it happened Thursday night at Bowling Green station in Lower Manhattan.

She saw a disoriented man sitting between the rails. People on the platform were screaming "a train is coming!" Next, she saw another man on the tracks helping the victim to his feet.

The train stopped before entering the station. Cheers erupted as the two men pulled themselves up to the platform.

Authorities didn't have details of the incident Friday. The New York Post reported it first.

POLICE: PA. MAN TOOK EX'S RING, GAVE IT TO WIFE: SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Police say a northeastern Pennsylvania man stole his ex-girlfriend's engagement ring on Thanksgiving in hopes of patching up his relationship with his wife.

Scranton police say 35-year-old Donald Albritton swiped the ring while his former girlfriend made Thanksgiving dinner and later gave it to his current wife.

Investigators say Albritton had gone to his ex's home to drop off a check and thank her for not involving the police in another matter. But The Times-Tribune of Scranton reports witnesses claimed they saw him palm the ring before he left.

TRIAL SET IN NY PROTESTER'S SUBPOENAED-TWEETS CASE: NEW YORK (AP) — An Occupy Wall Street protester whose disorderly conduct case became a clash over social media privacy may be headed to trial in New York. His plan to plead guilty hit a snag.

Malcolm Harris intended to admit Friday to disorderly conduct, the only charge against him.

A judge said he'd sentence Harris to time served, roughly nine hours in custody after his October 2011 arrest. But Harris held off pleading guilty after the judge declined to make a ruling that would let Harris keep fighting prosecutors' demand for more than three months of his tweets.