No one more surprised than Luke Bryan by ACMs win

Senators work on deal expanding background checks

Burglar steals $6,000 worth of hair from Ga. shop

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Richmond County sheriff's officials say a burglar targeted a beauty shop and made off with more than $6,000 worth of hair and $150 in cash.

Deputies: Ga. man stabbed, unleashed dogs on pig

SPRINGFIELD, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia man unleashed his two pit bulls on a neighbor's pet pig that got loose in a mobile home park, then stabbed the animal 15 to 20 times in front of children and other onlookers, authorities said.

NKorea warns embassies it can't guarantee safety

Obama: Calif. attorney general is 'best-looking'

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - President Barack Obama praised California's attorney general for more than her smarts and toughness at a Democratic Party event.

Cherokee County deputy kills homicide suspect

CANTON, Ga. (AP) - A Cherokee County sheriff's deputy shot and killed a man suspected of killing two people in Union County.

Judge wants trial in baby killing before year ends

NY judge makes morning-after pill available to all

NEW YORK (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration must make emergency contraceptives available to girls of all ages within 30 days, a federal judge has ruled, saying the agency's decisions regarding the so-called morning-after pill were "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.

Women's rights unfinished business

NEW YORK (AP) - Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the rights of women represent "the unfinished business of the 21st century" in the U.S. and around the world.

Georgia Department of Education to grade schools

ATLANTA (AP) - The Georgia Department of Education plans to give parents a detailed look at schools' performance.

Official: Obama proposes cuts to Social Security

US economy adds 88K jobs, rate drops to 7.6 pct.

Pastor files suit in traffic stop mix-up

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) - A pastor and his wife have filed a lawsuit after a mix-up led to police pulling them over and drawing their guns.

Famed movie critic Roger Ebert dies

Obama nears deadline on gay marriage decision

WASHINGTON (AP) - The next phase of President Barack Obama's evolving position on gay marriage may come Thursday, the deadline for his administration to weigh in on a landmark Supreme Court case that could determine whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed. Gay rights supporters are pressing the administration to file a friend-of-the-court brief urging the justices to overturn California's gay marriage ban. Obama is not required to file a brief, though ...

Manning offers pleas to judge in WikiLeaks case

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) - An Army private charged in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history offered guilty pleas Thursday to 10 of 22 charges against him and a military judge said she would allow the soldier to read a statement explaining his actions. Pfc. Bradley Manning would plead guilty to sending hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, in violation of military regulations but not in ...

Student due in court after accidental shooting

ATLANTA (AP) - A girl who police say accidentally shot herself with a gun at a midtown Atlanta high school is set to make her first court appearance Thursday morning.

GA couple to appear in court in alleged abuse case

DALLAS, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia couple accused of confining their teenage son to a bedroom for years with little food is set to appear in court.

After 2 days of big gains, stocks turn mixed

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks turned mixed Thursday after two days of triple-digit rallies. Big-name companies reported higher quarterly earnings and the government said that the jobless claims are falling, but impending budget cuts cast a pall. The Dow Jones industrial average was up three points at 14,078 as of 10:06 a.m. That's 86 points away from the all-time high it reached in October 2007, before the financial crisis imploded. The Standard & Poor's ...

Congress set to OK bill renewing anti-violence law

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans appeared resigned Thursday to accepting an ambitious expansion of the Violence Against Women Act that would bring gays, lesbians, immigrants and Native Americans under its protective umbrella.

Cops: Grandma shot self, young grandsons in car

PRESTON, Conn. (AP) - A woman who picked up her two young grandsons from daycare and was supposed to bring them home so the 2-year-old could open his birthday presents instead drove them to a neighboring town and shot and killed the children and herself, state police and family members said.

Stocks surge; Dow on track to high close of year

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks surged for a second day, putting the Dow on track for its highest close of the year. The market rose on more evidence that the U.S. housing market is recovering and signs that shoppers are still spending, at least at discount retailers such as Dollar Tree, which reported a jump in quarterly earnings Wednesday. The gains were broad: Twenty-nine of 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average advanced. ...

Pa. Spyware images sent to Aaron's computers

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Attorneys in a class-action lawsuit say the Atlanta-based furniture rental company, Aaron's Inc., hasn't notified at least 800 customers allegedly targeted by Pennsylvania-made spyware installed on the company's rental computers. In new documents filed Wednesday, the attorneys say that spyware created by North East, Pa.'s DesignerWare was used to send 185,000 emails from computers rented by its customers to Aaron's corporate computers. Attorneys for the rental customers say those emails sometimes ...

Voting rights law gets Supreme Court challenge

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court's conservative justices voiced deep skepticism Wednesday about a section of a landmark civil rights law that has helped millions of Americans exercise their right to vote. In a fast-paced, 70-minute argument, the court's liberals and conservatives engaged in a sometimes tense back and forth over whether there is an ongoing need in 2013 for a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The measure requires states ...

10 students disciplined over marijuana brownies

DACULA, Ga. (AP) - Authorities say 10 students at a high school northeast of Atlanta have been disciplined after school officials say one of them brought marijuana brownies to school and shared them.

Better late than never

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama will meet Friday with the top leaders in the House and Senate to discuss what to do about automatic cuts to the federal budget, White House and congressional leaders said.

Application helps streamline accident reporting

ATLANTA (AP) - The state Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner is recommending Georgians use a new smartphone application to simplify information sharing after a car accident.

Hagel takes helm at Pentagon after bitter fight

WASHINGTON (AP) - Chuck Hagel takes charge at the Defense Department with deep budget cuts looming and Republican opponents still doubtful that he's up to the job. Hagel is expected to be sworn in Wednesday and is likely to address the staff in his first day as defense secretary. The bitter, seven-week fight over his nomination ended Tuesday as a deeply divided Senate voted 58-41 to confirm him. Just four Republicans joined Democrats in ...

Pope says goodbye

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI basked in an emotional sendoff Wednesday from a massive crowd at his final general audience in St. Peter's Square, recalling moments of "joy and light" during his papacy but also times of difficulty when "it seemed like the Lord was sleeping."