Some states push back against new school standards

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Some states are pushing back against a set of uniform benchmarks for reading, writing and math that have been fully adopted in most states and are being widely put in place this school year.

Man charged with raping toddler is sex offender

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A man who has been charged with killing an elderly Alaska couple and raping their 2-year-old great-granddaughter is a registered sex offender convicted of breaking into a home and assaulting an 11-year-old girl four years ago.

Passengers returning to US after cruise ship fire

BALTIMORE (AP) - For the second time this year, a fire at sea has aborted a cruise ship's voyage. This time, aboard Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas and the ship's 2,200 passengers were expected back in Baltimore on Tuesday after being flown on charter flights from the Bahamas.

Much of Red Cross fund for Sandy aid still unspent

NEW YORK (AP) - Seven months after Superstorm Sandy, the Red Cross still hasn't spent more than a third of the $303 million it raised to assist victims of the storm, a strategy the organization says will help address needs that weren't immediately apparent in the disaster's wake.

18 hurt in shuttle bus crash near Atlanta airport

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) - Eighteen people were taken to the hospital Friday, at least two in serious condition, after they were hurt in a crash between a hotel shuttle bus and a tractor-trailer near Atlanta's airport, officials said.

DeKalb moves commencements from religious settings

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) - None of the DeKalb County school system's commencement ceremonies will take place in places of worship this year in response to parent complaints.

Legal woes piling up for GA Democratic Party chair

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) - Legal woes are piling up for the leader of Georgia's Democratic Party.

Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) - After lengthy and wrenching debate, local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have voted to open their ranks to openly gay boys for the first time, but heated reactions from the left and right made clear that the BSA's controversies are far from over.

Police: Man who killed wife, self also raped teen

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A felon who police say shot himself to death after fatally beating his pregnant wife also raped a 15-year-old girl the same day.

Death of Ga. infant under investigation

SWAINSBORO, Ga. (AP) - Sheriff's officials say a couple has been arrested after a 4-month-old girl in their care was found unresponsive.

Feds investigate after plane parts land on GA home

ELLENWOOD, Ga. (AP) - Federal authorities are investigating after a Boeing 747 on approach to Atlanta's airport lost parts from its right wing that landed on a woman's house in Clayton County.

Birth control coverage up for federal appeal

DENVER (AP) - In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is asking a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill.

Groups pledge $10.5M to Atlanta freeway project

ATLANTA (AP) - A group of metro Atlanta business community leaders are pledging $10.5 million to improve one of the state's busiest and most congested freeway interchanges.

Arias jury deadlocked but must continue

First Look: New Xbox elegant, but much unknown

After four years of development, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One entertainment console and touted it as an all-in-one solution for playing games, watching TV and doing everything in between. Microsoft wants the Xbox One to be central to your living room, so it packed the new Xbox with such features as the ability to change TV channels through voice commands.

The stories of 2 brothers suspected in bombing

BOSTON (AP) - Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an amateur boxer who had hoped to fight on the U.S. Olympic team, a man who said he had no American friends. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrestled at a prestigious high school, won a scholarship from his city and went on to university. Two brothers, one dead, one alive and at large. After hours when they were known only by grainy images of two men in baseball caps, a portrait ...

Boy Scouts propose to lift gay ban for youth

NEW YORK (AP) - Searching for compromise on a divisive issue, the Boy Scouts of America is proposing to partially lift its long-standing exclusion of gays - allowing them as youth members but continuing to bar them as adult leaders.

Tornado warning for Walton and Morgan counties+

ATLANTA (AP) - The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for areas of Morgan and Walton counties in north central Georgia.

Deal signs bill incentivizing dual credit classes

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has signed a bill to give high school students an incentive to take dual credit courses and earn college credit.

Boston suspect's father says he's a 'true angel'

MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) - In an anguished interview, the father of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing described his fugitive son as a smart and accomplished "angel." Anzor Tsarnaev spoke with The Associated Press by telephone in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan after police said one of his sons, 26-year-old Tamerlan, had been killed in a shootout and the other, Dzhokhar, was being intensely pursued. "My son is a true angel," ...

Official: 12 bodies recovered after Texas blast

WEST, Texas (AP) - The bodies of 12 people have been recovered from the remnants of a tiny Texas farm town that was rocked by a roaring explosion at a fertilizer plant, authorities said Friday, confirming for the first time the number of people who perished in the accident. Officials did not identify those killed, but the dead were believed to include a small group of firefighters and other first-responders who rushed toward the ...

Police go door-to-door in search for Boston bomber

WATERTOWN, Mass. (AP) - State police say officers are going door-to-door, but the Boston Marathon suspect is still on the loose.

UGA stadium concert might lead to more shows

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - University of Georgia President Mike Adams says he had some trepidation about hosting a concert at Sanford Stadium, which he said was a great success.

Republican: Boston raises immigration questions

WASHINGTON (AP) - The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee says the events in Boston make clear the importance of understanding gaps and loopholes in the U.S. immigration system.

IBM tugs Dow lower; S&P 500 up after rough week

NEW YORK (AP) - A rare earnings miss for IBM tugged the Dow Jones industrial average lower on Friday, while the rest of the market headed toward slight gains after a turbulent week. Quarterly earnings for the country's largest provider of computer services fell short of forecasts for the first time since 2005. IBM said delays in closing several large software and mainframe computer deals hindered sales. The company reported quarterly results after the ...

Poll: Public pessimism on economy is increasing

WASHINGTON (AP) - For the third year in a row, the nation's economic recovery has hit a springtime soft spot. Reflecting that weakness, only 1 in 4 Americans now expects his or her own financial situation to improve over the next year, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows. The sour mood is undermining support for President Barack Obama's economic stewardship and for government in general. The poll shows that just 46 percent of Americans ...

Russia's Caucasus: breeding ground for terror

MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) - Militants from Chechnya and other restive regions in Russia's volatile North Caucasus have targeted Moscow and other areas with bombings and hostage-takings, but if it turns out that the suspects in the Boston bombings are linked to those insurgencies it would mark the first time the Russian conflict had spawned a terror attack in the West. Two suspects in the Boston bombings were identified to The Associated Press as coming ...

1 of 2 Mass. bomb suspects dead; suburbs shut down

WATERTOWN, Mass. (AP) - The two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing killed an MIT police officer and hurled explosives at police in a car chase and gun battle overnight that left one of them dead and his brother on the loose, authorities said Friday as thousands of officers swarmed the streets in a manhunt that all but paralyzed the Boston area. The suspects were identified by law enforcement officials and a family member ...

2 teens plead not guilty in Ga. baby slaying

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) - Two Georgia teenagers pleaded not guilty Thursday to murdering a baby who was shot in the face during what authorities described as an attempted street robbery. Both De'Marquise Elkins, 17, and Dominique Lang, 15, are charged as adults. Authorities say Elkins fatally shot 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in his stroller as Elkins and Lang tried to rob the child's mother March 21 on the street a few blocks from her ...

Ga. boy hit by falling tree limb, hospitalized

ATLANTA (AP) - Authorities say an 8-year-old boy has been hospitalized after being hit by a falling tree branch while he was on a school playground in Atlanta.