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Tiger Woods’ mother-in-law was rushed to a hospital early Tuesday, touching off the second media frenzy in two weeks surrounding the pro golfer’s carefully guarded private life.

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Holmberg

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Pope makes an appearance Pope Benedict XVI greets the faithful during the Angelus prayer he celebrated from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Tuesday.

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Barbro Holmberg was taken by ambulance to Health Central Hospital with stomach pains after a 911 call from Woods’ house. Holmberg, a Swedish politician, was released about 11 hours later and returned to Woods’ mansion, hospital spokesman Dan Yates said.

Holmberg, 57, arrived in the U.S. a few days ago, just as her daughter grappled with fallout from the crash and the ensuing statement from Woods that he had extramarital “transgressions.”

LUCASVILLE, Ohio

1 drug used in execution

Ohio executed a killer Tuesday by performing the nation’s first lethal injection using a single drug, a supposedly less painful method than previous executions that required three drugs.

Kenneth Biros was pronounced dead at 11:47 a.m. Tuesday, about 10 minutes after one dose of thiopental sodium began flowing into his veins at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. The U.S. Supreme Court had rejected his final appeal about two hours before.

Experts predicted the thiopental sodium would take longer to kill the 51-year-old Biros than the convention three-drug cocktail.

TEHRAN

Protests in second day

Hard-line militiamen firing tear gas and throwing stones stormed a crowd of thousands of university students protesting for a second day Tuesday, as Iran threatened a tougher crackdown on the opposition after the biggest anti-government demonstrations in months.

More than 200 people were arrested in Tehran on Monday during protests by tens of thousands at universities nationwide, and Iran’s top prosecutor warned further unrest would not be tolerated. He hinted authorities could even pursue the top opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, an escalation the government has so far balked at in Iran’s post-election turmoil.

Authorities appear concerned that the protest movement could pick up new steam after Monday’s demonstrations, in which students clashed with police and militiamen in the streets of Tehran.

BOISE, Idaho

Holy cow! It stuck!

Memo to children — and adults for that matter — everywhere: Don’t try to emulate Flick from “A Christmas Story.” Ever. Your tongue will get stuck to a metal pole when the temperature is minus 2.

Boise fire officials were able to help a boy whose tongue was stuck to a metal fence pole Tuesday morning. Firefighters didn’t ask him his age but said he was probably 10.

The boy is OK, Boise fire Capt. Bill Tinsley said. The boy’s tongue was bleeding a little bit but there was no visible tearing, Tinsley said.

“I’ve been doing this 20-some years and this is the first (tongue frozen to pole call) I’ve had,” Tinsley said. “Poor guy.”

A woman driving by saw the boy standing there, figured out what was going on, and called 911.

Firefighters brought a glass of warm water with them and poured it on the pole, and the boy’s tongue came unstuck almost immediately, Tinsley said.

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