Uncle: Family to claim Boston bomb suspect's body

Keith Richards: I don't own an iPod

NEW YORK (AP) - He's rock royalty and likes to keep it old-school: Keith Richards says he doesn't own an iPod.

1st-day deliberations end in Pa. abortion doc case

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A jury has gone home after deliberating for two hours in the capital murder trial of a Philadelphia abortion doctor accused of killing a patient and four babies.

Russia had elder Boston suspect under surveillance

Officials say threatened FAA towers to remain open

WASHINGTON (AP) - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has assured lawmakers the Obama administration will prevent the closure of 149 small airport towers as well as end furloughs of air traffic controllers nationwide as a result of legislation passed by Congress, according to officials involved in negotiations on the bill.

Obama: US still not sure who used chem weapons

2-year-old girl gets windpipe made from stem cells

CHICAGO (AP) - A 2-year-old girl born without a windpipe now has a new one grown from her own stem cells, the youngest patient in the world to benefit from the experimental treatment.

Reward rises for leads on Savannah student slaying

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - A reward of up to $12,500 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of whoever killed Savannah State University student Rebecca Foley.

Stocks edge lower; Pfizer weighs down the Dow

NEW YORK (AP) - Weak earnings from Pfizer and other companies dragged down major market indexes Monday, pulling the Standard & Poor's 500 back from a record high.

US home prices up 9.3 pct., most in nearly 7 years

UGA: Backpacks won't be allowed at graduation

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - The University of Georgia will ban backpacks in the school's football stadium during its commencement ceremony on May 10.

FBI visits home of wife of dead bombing suspect

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) - FBI agents investigating the Boston Marathon bombings have visited the Rhode Island home of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's (TAM'-ehr-luhn tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) in-laws and carried away several bags.

S&P 500 reaches new high, led by tech

VA stops bonuses for disability claims executives

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Veterans Affairs Department is withholding bonuses for senior officials who oversee disability claims, citing a failure to meet performance goals for reducing a sizable backlog in claims processing.

Deal signs bill revising tourism tax break program

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) - Gov. Nathan Deal has signed a bill into law that makes changes to a tax break program aimed at boosting Georgia tourism.

State's highest court asked to take up school case

ATLANTA (AP) - A federal judge has asked the Georgia Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of the 2011 law that gave Gov. Nathan Deal the authority to suspend six DeKalb County school board members.

Francis pays tribute to Benedict, reflects on age

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis paid a heartfelt tribute Friday to his predecessor Benedict XVI, saying his faith and teaching had "enriched and invigorated" the Catholic Church and would remain its spiritual patrimony forever. Francis offered the respects during an audience with the cardinals who elected him to succeed Benedict, whose resignation set in motion the extraordinary conclave that brought the first prelate from the New World and first Jesuit to the papacy. ...

Pentagon spends nearly $1B a year on unemployment

WASHINGTON (AP) - Even as it faces budget cuts and forced employee furloughs, the Pentagon is spending nearly a $1 billion a year on a program that sends unemployment checks to former troops who left the military voluntarily.

Pentagon: Iranian plane pursued US spy drone

WASHINGTON (AP) - An Iranian fighter jet approached a U.S. surveillance drone aircraft over the Persian Gulf but broke off its pursuit after a U.S. escort plane discharged a warning flare, the Pentagon said Thursday. Pentagon press secretary George Little said the incident occurred Tuesday and that the unarmed MQ-1 Predator surveillance drone as well as two U.S. military escort planes remained over international waters at all times. Little said the drone was conducting ...

Ga. couple arrested on child cruelty charges

POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. (AP) - A metro Atlanta couple has been arrested on child cruelty charges after police say they duct taped their children and locked them in their bedrooms.

Pope Francis' humility: stops by hotel to pay bill

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis put his humility on display during his first day as pontiff Thursday, stopping by his hotel to pick up his luggage and pay the bill himself in a decidedly different style of papacy than his tradition-minded predecessor, who tended to stay ensconced in the frescoed halls of the Vatican. The break from Benedict XVI's pontificate was evident even in Francis' wardrobe choices: He kept the simple pectoral cross ...

US stocks rise in early trading, S&P nears record

NEW YORK (AP) - Encouraging news from the job market pushed the stock market up early Thursday, putting the Standard & Poor's 500 index near its all-time high. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose six points to 1,560. It's just five points away from the record high it reached in October 2007. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 57 points to 14,513, putting the average of 30 big companies on course for ...

Metro Atlanta jobless rate rises to 8.7 percent

ATLANTA (AP) - State labor officials say metro Atlanta's jobless rate rose to 8.7 percent in January, up from 8.4 percent the month before.

Argentine Jorge Bergoglio elected Pope Francis

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected pope Wednesday, becoming the first pontiff from the Americas and the first from outside Europe in more than a millennium. He chose the name Francis, associating himself with the humble 13th-century Italian preacher who lived a life of poverty.

Senate Democrats unveil budget blueprint

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democrats unveiled a largely stand-pat budget Wednesday that calls for $1 trillion in new tax revenues over the coming decade but actually increases spending, while protecting the party's domestic policy priorities and adding $4 trillion more to the national debt than a slashing alternative from House Republicans. The plan by Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., blends about $1 trillion in modest cuts to health care providers, the Pentagon, domestic ...

Dow notches ninth gain in a row, longest since '96

NEW YORK (AP) - The Dow Jones industrial average notched its ninth gain in a row, giving the index its longest winning streak in more than sixteen years. The index edged up 5.22 points, or 0.04 percent, to 14,455.28. The Dow has risen every day this month and is up 10.3 percent this year, having surpassed its previous all-time high of 14,164.53 March 5th. Demand for stocks has been propelled this year by ...

Panel criticizes military on sexual assault cases

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a stinging rebuke of the military's efforts to curb sexual assault, members of a Senate panel hammered Defense Department officials on Wednesday for making too little progress in combating the crimes and failing to improve a military justice system that victims described as slow and uncaring. During a two-part hearing, the panel heard harrowing testimony from several victims, who said military justice is broken and pushed for Congress to ...

57 charged in Florida gambling scandal

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Florida's lieutenant governor resigned and nearly 60 other people were charged in a widening scandal of a purported veterans charity that authorities said Wednesday was $300 million front for illegal gambling. Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll's resignation came a day after she was questioned in the investigation. Her public relations firm did work for the St. Augustine-based charity Allied Veterans of the World, but she has not been accused of ...

Francis is first pope from Americas

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis is the first ever from the Americas, an austere Jesuit intellectual who modernized Argentina's conservative Catholic church.

Teen arrested after stealing police cruiser

EAST POINT, Ga. (AP) - Police say a 13-year-old boy accused of stealing a patrol car and barricading himself inside his house has been taken into custody.