Boston bomb suspect read jihadist sites

BOSTON (AP) - Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an ardent reader of jihadist websites and extremist propaganda, U.S. officials said Tuesday, adding another piece to the body of evidence they say suggests the two brothers were motivated by an anti-American, radical version of Islam.

Germany: Bieber's monkey going nowhere

BERLIN (AP) - German customs authorities say Justin Bieber's monkey is going nowhere, despite a request of the animal shelter where it's living that it go to a zoo.

Appeals court lifts stay of execution for Ga. man

ATLANTA (AP) - A federal appeals court that halted the execution of a Georgia man has lifted its stay, clearing the way for a new execution date.

College head to reimburse school for wedding costs

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Officials at a Georgia university say the college president plans to reimburse the school for costs of a state-owned bus that was used to carry guests of a private wedding at his home.

Woman injured in marathon blast faces challenges

BOSTON (AP) - As this shocked city observed a moment of silence, Heather Abbott was following through on a difficult decision - allowing doctors to amputate her left foot, which was mangled in the bombings that shattered the Boston Marathon.

Police probe mail thefts from 48 victims in NE Ga.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Dozens of northeast Georgia residents say their mail was stolen in a mystery that involves plastic bags full of mail found in the bed of a pickup truck.

UGA unveils redesigned license plate

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - The University of Georgia has revamped its specialty license plate in the hopes of getting even more backers of Bulldog Nation to show their support.

Stocks edge higher as energy stocks rebound

Bombing suspect charged, could face death penalty

BOSTON (AP) - Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged in his hospital room Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill, and he could face the death penalty if convicted.

State fire investigators: Church blaze was arson

COCHRAN, Ga. (AP) - State fire investigators say a blaze that destroyed a 50-year-old church in central Georgia over the weekend was arson.

Stocks edge down at the start of big earnings week

Legislature's inaction puts drug effort at risk

ATLANTA (AP) - A new program designed to combat prescription drug abuse in Georgia might run out of money to operate only a few months after it gets under way in June.

Witherspoon ' embarrassed' by arrest; hearing set

ATLANTA (AP) - A court hearing on a disorderly conduct charge is scheduled for actress Reese Witherspoon, who said she's "deeply embarrassed" by what she said to a state trooper during a traffic stop in Atlanta.

Rescuers search ruins of Texas fertilizer plant

WEST, Texas (AP) - Rescuers searched the smoking remnants of a Texas farm town Thursday for survivors of a thunderous fertilizer plant explosion, gingerly checking smashed houses and apartments for anyone still trapped in debris or bodies of the dead. The accident killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160 others. Daylight revealed a breathtaking band of destruction extending for a four- or five-block radius around the West Fertilizer Co. in ...

Attorney: Miss. man denies mailing suspected ricin

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - A Mississippi man charged with mailing letters with suspected ricin to national leaders believed he had uncovered a conspiracy to sell human body parts on the black market, and on Thursday his attorney said he was surprised by his arrest and maintains he is innocent.

Slight decline in early trading on Wall Street

NEW YORK (AP) - Disappointing earnings results weighed on the stock market in early trading on Thursday, following two steep drops this week. Shortly after 11:30 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was off 46 points at 14,572, a decline of 0.3 percent. The Dow lost 138 points the day before and is down 2 percent for the week. Morgan Stanley, Pepsi and others joined in the parade of companies turning in quarterly ...

Ga. amputee runner raising money for bomb victims

ATLANTA (AP) - A Sandy Springs man who is a double-amputee was nearly to the finish line of the Boston Marathon when the bombs went off.

Georgia unemployment rate drops to 8.4 percent

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent in March, the lowest rate since December 2008.

Police: 5 to 15 people killed in Texas explosion

WEST, Texas (AP) - Rescue workers searched rubble early Thursday for survivors of a fertilizer plant explosion in a small Texas town that killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160 others. The blast left the factory a smoldering ruin and leveled homes and businesses for blocks in every direction. The explosion in downtown West, a farming community about 20 miles north of Waco, shook the ground with the strength of ...

Ga. police Sgt. arrested in McDonalds dispute

CUMMING, Ga. (AP) - A metro Atlanta police sergeant accused of pulling a gun on a customer in a McDonalds drive-thru has been arrested.

Senate blocks expanded gun sale background checks

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republicans, backed by rural-state Democrats, blocked legislation Wednesday to tighten restrictions on the sale of firearms, rejecting personal pleas made by families of the victims of last winter's mass elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn. Attempts to ban assault-style rifles and high capacity ammunition magazines also faced certain defeat in a series of showdown votes four months after a gunman killed 20 elementary school children and six staff members at ...

Stocks fall on signs of slowing global economy

NEW YORK (AP) - As evidence of a slowing global economy grows, investors are showing some caution just one week after U.S. stocks hit an all-time high.

Ricin in Obama letter, odd packages scramble Hill

WASHINGTON (AP) - Letters sent to President Barack Obama and a Mississippi senator tested positive for poisonous ricin in preliminary checks Wednesday, and authorities chased reports of other suspicious mail at a U.S. Capitol already on edge. An FBI intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press said the letters to Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., were postmarked Memphis, Tenn. Both letters say: "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become ...

Feds deny reports Boston suspect is arrested

BOSTON (AP) - Police and reporters converged on the federal courthouse in Boston on Wednesday amid conflicting reports of whether a suspect was in custody in the marathon bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 170. Several media outlets reported earlier in the day that a suspect had been identified from surveillance video taken at a Lord & Taylor store between the sites of the two bomb blasts. A law enforcement official ...

Lawyer: former Atlanta schools chief is innocent

ATLANTA (AP) - A lawyer for Beverly Hall says the former Atlanta Public Schools superintendent is innocent and looks forward to having her day in court. Richard Deane said in an interview with The Associated Press Wednesday that the charges against Hall are excessive and that there is no factual basis for them. Hall served as superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools for more than a decade. She and 34 subordinates were indicted by a ...

Guide to the Philadelphia abortion doc murder case

Dr. Kermit Gosnell is on trial for murder in the deaths of a female patient and seven babies allegedly born alive at the abortion clinic he ran. A look at the facts in the case:

Official: Suspect in custody in Boston bombings

BOSTON (AP) - A suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings was taken into custody Wednesday in a breakthrough that came less than 48 hours after the deadly attack, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said Wednesday.

Braves LHP Avilan better, hopes to avoid DL

ATLANTA (AP) - Atlanta Braves reliever Luis Avilan is feeling better after being carted off the field the previous night because of severe pain in his left leg.