Stocks up as job market improves; stimulus chatter

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks moved higher Thursday after claims for unemployment benefits fell and name-brand companies like Royal Caribbean and Harley-Davidson reported healthy profits.

Police: Boston suspects planned to attack New York

Swedish police find drugs on Bieber tour bus

STOCKHOLM (AP) - Swedish police say they have found drugs on board a tour bus used by Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber.

Dog being evaluated after mauling toddler to death

ATLANTA (AP) - Authorities say they plan to evaluate the health and temperament of a family dog that attacked and killed a toddler in his home south of Atlanta.

Officials: Bomb suspect silent after read rights

Presidents converge to salute one of their own

Georgia signs junior college forward Cameron Forte

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Georgia has signed Cameron Forte, one of the nation's top junior college scorers.

Weak earnings prospects weigh on stocks

White House says it's open to fix on FAA furloughs

WASHINGTON (AP) - Under pressure, the White House signaled Wednesday it might accept legislation eliminating Federal Aviation Administration furloughs blamed for lengthy flight delays for airline passengers, while leaving the rest of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts in place.

Boston area honors slain MIT officer

Toddler dies in Ga. dog attack

ATLANTA (AP) - Police say a metro Atlanta toddler has been killed in a dog attack.

A risk including gay partners in immigration bill?

ouse bill shifts funds in health care law

Officials: Marathon bombs triggered by remote

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. officials say the Boston Marathon explosions that killed three people and wounded more than 260 were triggered by a remote-controlled detonator.

'Sweet Caroline' sales up after bombings

NEW YORK (AP) - Sales for Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" are up by 597 percent a week after the tune became a source of comfort following the explosions at the Boston Marathon.

Woman fired after tweeting pic of men making sexist jokes

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A female developer was fired after tweeting about a group of men she said were making sexual comments at a computer programming conference, fueling an already vigorous debate about gender equality and culture in Silicon Valley.

Police arrest 2 teens in Ga. baby killing

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) - Police have arrested two teenagers suspected in the shooting death of a baby in a stroller and the wounding of the baby's mother. Brunswick Police Chief Tobe Green said Friday that 17-year-old Demarquis Elkins is charged with first-degree murder as an adult. The 14-year-old is also charged with murder, but he was not identified because he is a juvenile. The chief said police were still investigating the motive and ...

Pa. caretaker charged with drinking old whiskey

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) - The live-in caretaker of a western Pennsylvania mansion is facing criminal charges for allegedly drinking more than $100,000 worth of the owner's whiskey.

Ga. Senate passes competing bill on lobbying rules

ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia Senate has upped the ante on the House as the two chambers attempt to overhaul lobbying rules at the Capitol.

Soccer players suspended over drinking allegations

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Authorities say 18 players on a high school soccer team in east Georgia have been suspended and removed from the team after they were accused of drinking alcohol while on a school-sponsored trip.

Senate Democrats on track to pass budget

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats controlling the Senate moved on Friday toward approving their first budget in four years, promising another, almost $1 trillion round of tax increases on top of more than $600 billion in higher taxes on the wealthy enacted in January.

Punxsutawney Phil 'indicted' over spring forecast

CINCINNATI (AP) - Famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil might want to go back into hibernation. Authorities in still-frigid Ohio have issued an "indictment" of the furry rodent, who predicted an early spring when he didn't see his shadow after emerging from his western Pennsylvania lair on Feb. 2. "Punxsutawney Phil did purposely, and with prior calculation and design, cause the people to believe that spring would come early," Mike Gmoser, the prosecutor in southwestern Ohio's ...

Tolls on Georgia 400 to end before Thanksgiving

ATLANTA (AP) - Transportation officials say the tolls on Georgia 400, a busy commuter route on the north side of Atlanta, will end later this year.

UGA student reports attack by mime

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - A University of Georgia student told police she was attacked by a woman who appeared dressed as a mime.

3 dead, including suspect, in Marine base shooting

QUANTICO, Va. (AP) - A Marine killed a male and female colleague in a shooting at a base in northern Virginia before killing himself, officials said early Friday. Authorities were called to the scene at Marine Corps Base Quantico around 10:30 p.m. Thursday, where they found one Marine dead at a barracks, base commander Col. David W. Maxwell told reporters. Authorities later found a second victim dead, along with the body of the ...

Ex-children's hospital worker accused of abuse

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - A former employee of Children's Hospital of Georgia is accused of sexual battery involving patients at the Augusta facility.

Obama health law anniversary finds two Americas

WASHINGTON (AP) - Three years, two elections, and one Supreme Court decision after President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, its promise of health care for the uninsured may be delayed or undercut in much of the country because of entrenched opposition from many Republican state leaders. In half the states, mainly led by Democrats, officials are racing deadlines to connect uninsured residents to coverage now only months away. In others it's ...

Survey: Low-wage workers missing out on training

WASHINGTON (AP) - As they struggle to get ahead, many low-wage workers are not taking advantage of job training or educational programs that could help them make the leap to better-paying jobs. They are often skeptical about whether such programs are even worth the trouble, a new survey shows.

Universe ages 80M years; Big Bang gets clearer

PARIS (AP) - New results from a look into the split second after the Big Bang indicate the universe is 80 million years older than previously thought but the core concepts of the cosmos - how it began, what it's made of and where it's going - seem to be on the right track. The findings released Thursday bolster a key theory called inflation, which says the universe burst from subatomic size to ...

Ga. jobless rate hits lowest level since early '09

ATLANTA (AP) - State labor officials say Georgia's unemployment rate has dropped 8.6 percent, its lowest level in the past four years.