US loans from China at issue in debt-ceiling fight

Atlanta mayor vows enhanced security for road race

ATLANTA (AP) - City leaders and organizers of the upcoming AJC Peachtree Road Race say they will be taking enhanced security measures for the annual race in the wake of the bombings at the Boston marathon.

Brief hearing held in suspicious letters case

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - A Mississippi man charged with making a deadly poison sent to President Barack Obama and others was ordered held without bond until a hearing later this week when prosecutors are expected to describe what evidence they have against him

Pa. abortion doc co-defendant argues case unproven

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A lawyer for the co-defendant of a Philadelphia abortion doctor says prosecutors didn't prove their case against her.

Canada dismemberment trial set for fall 2014

MONTREAL (AP) - The trial of a former porn actor accused of dismembering his Chinese lover and mailing the body parts to Canadian political parties will begin in September 2014.

Georgians make pilgrimage to girl's tombstone

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) - One by one they came on foot, a steady stream of pilgrims, from shortly after dawn and continuing until the clouds closed in, threatening to send showers washing over the mildew-stained gravestones at Marietta City Cemetery.

Stocks up in early trading as spending rises

NEW YORK (AP) - A pair of encouraging economic reports helped propel the stock market up in early trading on Monday.

James Bond studio to open 1st US facility in Ga.

ATLANTA (AP) - The British film studio home to the James Bond franchise announced plans Monday for its first U.S. movie production facility at a site near Atlanta.

Storms drop quarter-sized hail, topple trees

ATLANTA (AP) - Residents were cleaning up after Sunday thunderstorms dropped large hail and toppled trees, damaging cars and homes in several Georgia counties.

Hospitals see surge of superbug-fighting products

NEW YORK (AP) - They sweep. They swab. They sterilize. And still the germs persist.

Judge overturns Ga. man's murder conviction

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) - A judge has thrown out a murder conviction for a man who has served 12 years in prison for the crime.

Man denied bond in Ga. child molestation case

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) - The founder of a science-fiction convention has been denied bond multiple charges of child molestation.

Obama backs Planned Parenthood in political fight

George will show no more

Minivan driver killed by flying tire on I-85

ATLANTA (AP) - Authorities say a tire from a truck that flew over a freeway median near Atlanta struck and killed the driver of a minivan heading the opposite direction.

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.

Judge strikes down section of GA immigration law

ATLANTA (AP) - A federal judge has permanently struck down a section of Georgia's 2011 law targeting illegal immigration that makes it illegal for someone to knowingly harbor or transport an illegal immigrant.

Chairman: Ga. Senate will back $100 lobbying cap

ATLANTA (AP) - The Senate will propose a $100 cap on lobbyist expenditures, not an outright ban, creating a conflict with House lawmakers in the waning days of the General Assembly's annual session, a leading Senate Republican said Wednesday. The Senate Rules Committee will meet Thursday to put forward its version of lobbying restrictions originally written by House Speaker David Ralston, said Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, the committee chairman. Mullis said he hopes the ...

Wal-Mart expands test of mobile checkout program

NEW YORK (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is expanding a test of a new checkout program that allows shoppers to scan items with their smartphones and then pay at self-checkout terminals. The world's largest retailer launched what it calls its "Scan & Go" program late last year in about 70 stores in the Bentonville, Ark., area, where the retailer is based, as well as Atlanta. It is now testing the program in more ...