Obama gives education waivers to 10 states
President Barack Obama says his decision to free 10 states from the No Child Left Behind education law will give the flexibility they need to set high standards for students and hold schools accountable.

NRC approves first new nuclear plant since '78
The nation's first new nuclear power plant in a generation won approval Thursday as federal regulators voted to grant a license for two new reactors in Georgia.

Scientists say NASA making cuts
Scientists say NASA is about to propose major cuts in its exploration of other planets, especially Mars.

La Nina going away, but too late for Texas drought
Federal weather forecasters say the La Nina weather phenomenon that contributed to the southwestern U.S. drought is winding down.

Big mortgage settlement reached
49 U.S. states have agreed to a deal with the nation's biggest mortgage lenders that will be worth $25 billion.

Quarterly loss hits $3.3 billion at Postal Service
The U.S. Postal Service says it was hurt by declining mail volume and mounting costs for future retiree health benefits.

Unemployment aid applications near four-year low
The number of people seeking unemployment aid fell in an encouraging sign of continued improvement in the job market.

Armstrong says he's happy investigation over
Lance Armstrong is relieved the federal investigation into doping allegations against him has ended and says he always stayed confident he would not be charged.

Tassimo coffee makers recalled over burn risk
More than a million popular coffee makers are being recalled after dozens of reports of the brewers spraying hot liquid, coffee grounds or tea leaves onto people.

Ex-governor's pardons go before Mississippi high court
The Mississippi Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over whether ex-Gov. Haley Barbour legally pardoned 10 current and former inmates.

Beef prices expected to climb
Prices at the supermarket likely will rise for the next two years because of the smallest cattle herd in 60 years.

FDA outlines path for lower-priced biotech drugs
The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to review the first lower-cost versions of biotech drugs, expensive medications that have never before faced generic competition in the U.S.

Powerball top prize soars
No one matched all six numbers correctly to claim the $250 million jackpot and now the prize swells to $310 million.

Utah bill would bar teaching about birth control
Teaching about contraception and homosexuality would be off-limits in Utah public school classrooms under a state lawmaker's proposal.

New Pentagon rules on women in combat
Pentagon rules are catching up a bit with reality after a decade when women in the U.S. military have served, fought and died on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Washington state moves closer to legalizing gay marriage
The stage is set for the state to become the seventh in the nation to allow same-sex couples to wed.

Chinese-born American acquitted of espionage
A federal judge has convicted a Chinese-born American of stealing trade secrets but acquitted him of corporate espionage at a trial in Chicago that highlighted fears about China pilfering U.S. company secrets.

Global shark attacks up in 2011
A new report finds that fatal shark attacks worldwide last year reach their highest level in two decades, though there were none in the U.S.

Sheriff: Facebook spat led to shooting deaths
Authorities say a father who was upset after a Tennessee couple deleted his adult daughter as a friend on Facebook has been charged with killing the couple.

Sandusky argues for local jurors
Jerry Sandusky wants jurors in his child sex-abuse trial to be chosen from the community where he lives and is suggesting a trial delay may be the best way to address the intense publicity generated by the case.

Survey finds doctors aren't always giving it to you straight
More than half the doctors in a new survey admit they have described a patient's prognosis in a way they knew was too rosy.

30 more airports will test lower-hassle screening
The head of the Transportation Security Administration says more travelers around the country will be eligible to enroll in a test program so that they can get through airport security with less hassle by the end of this year.

Santorum's hat trick jolts GOP presidential race
Rick Santorum got a surprising sweep of Tuesday night's nominating contests in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado.

Boehner: Congress to overturn birth control policy
House Speaker John Boehner says if President Barack Obama doesn't reverse a new policy requiring religious schools and hospitals to provide employees with access to free birth control, the Congress will.

FEMA rolls out plan to waive Katrina victim debts
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is beginning a plan to waive debts for thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters.

L.A. district hopes to restore trust with shakeup
The move by school district administrators to replace the entire staff at an elementary school rocked by teacher sex abuse claims was a bold step but it has been met with mixed feelings.

U.S. Supreme Court won't permit Ohio execution
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the state's request to put a condemned killer to death by refusing to overrule lower court rulings that put the execution on hold.

Sister 'terrified' of what Powell had done
The sister of a man who set his house on fire, killing himself and his two sons, knew something horrible had happened when she received emails from her brother explaining what to do with his property and saying he couldn't live without his sons.

Marriage ban's path to high court unclear
Regardless of the next steps, gay and lesbian couples are unlikely to be able to get married in California anytime soon.

More states to join foreclosure-abuse deal
Arizona and Florida will be joining more than 40 other states in approving a deal to provide relief for many Americans who lost their homes or can't afford their mortgages.

Change in Sandusky's bail conditions sought
Pennsylvania state prosecutors are seeking changes in Jerry Sandusky's bail conditions because they say they've had complaints that he's been watching children in a nearby schoolyard from the back porch of his home.

Job openings jump to near a three-year high
The number of available jobs in the United States jumped in December, supporting other data that show a brighter outlook for hiring.

Komen official quits after Planned Parenthood dispute
An executive with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity has resigned after a dispute over funding for Planned Parenthood.

CDC: Breads top list of salt sources in U.S. diets
Health officials have come up with a list of the top 10 sources of salt in the American diet and bread is No. 1.

Charge in webcam spying case may be upgraded
Authorities want to upgrade one of the charges against a former Rutgers student accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate's intimate encounter with another man.

Appeals court finds seniors can't reject Medicare right
A federal appeals court says American seniors who receive Social Security cannot reject their legal right to Medicare benefits in a rare case of someone suing to get out of a government entitlement.

University offers Plan B in vending machine
Students at a Pennsylvania university can obtain an emergency contraceptive from an usual source.

School staff removed during abuse probe
The entire staff at a Los Angeles elementary school is being removed while authorities investigate horrific allegations of sexual abuse by two of the school's teachers.

NYPD officer pleads on trial in gun smuggling case
Officer William Masso has pleaded guilty in a case that involved guns, cigarettes and slot machines.

Second wave of evictions is sweeping away Occupiers
A tent city in Maine that is among the longest-lived of the Occupy movement is being dismantled as part of a new round of evictions. 

Leader of Liberian war faction ordered out of U.S.
A man who led a faction accused of killings and recruiting child soldiers during Liberia's civil war was told to leave the United States by an immigration judge in western New York.

Judge temporarily blocks Mississippi execution
A federal judge has halted the execution of Edwin Hart Turner, who was convicted of killing two men during a robbery in 1995.

Authorities try to piece together circumstances of deaths
Arson investigators are going through what's left of a house in Washington state where the husband and two young sons of a missing Utah woman died in an explosion.

Hearing to determine Loughner's competency
A federal judge has called a hearing to determine whether the suspect in the Tucson shooting rampage that left then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords wounded should remain at a federal prison facility where officials are forcibly medicating him.

Romney adds to lead after Nevada victory
Mitt Romney has added to his lead in the race for delegates now that Republican officials in Nevada are done counting the votes from Saturday's presidential caucuses.

Ex-lacrosse player pleads not guilty before trial
Jury selection is under way in the trial of a University of Virginia lacrosse player accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, who played on the women's team.

Arizona police searching landfill for girl
Police are searching a landfill south of Phoenix for the body of a five-year-old girl who has been missing for more than four months and is now believed dead.

Giants win Super Bowl
Eli Manning and the Giants one-upped Tom Brady and the Patriots again, coming back with a last-minute score to beat New England 21-17 for New York's fourth world championship.

Marine sergeant accused of hazing goes to trial
A second Marine is going to trial for allegedly hazing a fellow Marine who later fatally shot himself in Afghanistan.

Virus strikes another cruise ship
A stomach virus has stricken people on a third U.S. cruise ship, with a vessel sailing from New Orleans delayed by norovirus. 

Protesters gather outside Saleh's hotel
A protest of President Ali Abdullah Saleh outside the New York hotel where he's staying got heated when demonstrators saw him leave the building.

Seven hurt in Pennsylvania fire
Fire officials say a blaze in a north Philadelphia row home injured seven people, including three firefighters, one critically. 

Sailors discharged for hazing
The Navy says eight sailors have been discharged after a hazing incident aboard a San Diego-based amphibious assault ship.

Protesters arrested in D.C.
Authorities say 11 people have been arrested in Washington's McPherson Square since Park Police began clearing away tents from one of the nation's last remaining Occupy sites. 

Factory goes up in flames
An official says a fire at a landmark southwestern Pennsylvania candy factory destroyed nearly 20,000 pounds of chocolate.

Family found safe in Oregon
A couple and their adult son have been found alive, six days after they disappeared from their campsite to go mushroom picking.

U.S. women call Egypt captors 'kind'
Two California women kidnapped by Bedouin tribesmen say their Egyptian kidnappers fed them tea and snacks and said they wouldn't hurt them.

Obama: U.S. stands with Syrian citizens
In a blistering statement following bloody attacks in the city of Homs, President Obama says President Bashar Assad has displayed "disdain for human life and dignity" and repeated his call for Assad to leave power.

Police converge on Occupy site in Washington, D.C.
The officers arrived before dawn and placed barricades around McPherson Square, a federal park near the White House where demonstrators have camped since October.

Heavy snowstorm moves east from Colorado
The most powerful storm of the winter season created whiteout conditions on the eastern plains and canceled more than 600 flights in Denver.

Taliban: No letter was sent to Obama
The Afghan Taliban are denying their leader Mullah Omar wrote to President Barack Obama last July.

Closure of Armstrong probe could affect feds
Now that the federal government has closed its investigation of Lance Armstrong, some legal experts are wondering whether the effort to prosecute superstar athletes over doping claims is worth it.

Army orders court-martial in WikiLeaks case
An Army officer has ordered a court-martial for a low-ranking intelligence analyst charged in the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history.

Congressmen question pace of probe at Arlington
Members of Congress are questioning why nobody has been prosecuted as part of a criminal investigation of mismanagement at Arlington National Cemetery.

Air Force to cut 10,000 airmen
The Air Force says it will cut the service by nearly 10,000 active, National Guard and Reserve airmen next year.

Eggs recalled in nearly three dozen states
A Minnesota food company said it is recalling more than a million hard-cooked eggs distributed to 34 states after testing revealed some may be contaminated with listeria. 

Unemployment rate hits 8.3 percent
The unemployment rate fell for the fifth straight month after a surge of January hiring, a promising shift in the nation's outlook for job growth.

Komen drops plan to cut grants
After three days of controversy, the cancer charity says it is reversing its decision to cut breast-screening grants to Planned Parenthood.

Muslim groups plan NYC rally
Muslim groups and interfaith leaders will gather in the wake of a report about New York Police Department intelligence.

Crews back in water looking for missing toddler
Divers from the Maine Warden Service and Maine State Police are searching the Kennebec River as they continue to investigate the disappearance of Ayla Reynolds.

Deported Texas teen maintains alias in jail calls
A Dallas teenager deported to South America under a false name never expressed concern during jailhouse phone calls that she was misidentified as an illegal Colombian immigrant.

Former professor's lawyers want trial pushed back
Lawyers for a former Alabama professor accused of killing three colleagues during a faculty meeting want a state appeals court to delay her March trial because officials haven't paid for expert witnesses or testing by a neurologist.

Court rules against abortion protester's lawsuit
A federal appeals court in Philadelphia has ruled that an anti-abortion protester arrested near the Liberty Bell in 2007 can't collect damages from park rangers who detained him.

Psychologist believes Loughner's still incompetent
A federal judge says a psychologist believes the Tucson shooting rampage suspect is still incompetent to stand trial.

FDA: low levels of fungicide in domestic OJ
The Food and Drug Administration says it has found low levels of an illegal fungicide for oranges in samples taken from Florida juice manufacturers.

NRC: Heavy wear on new tubes at Cal nuke plant
Federal regulators say unusual wear has been found on dozens of virtually new tubes that carry radioactive water at Southern California's San Onofre Unit 2 nuclear plant.

US boosts passport fees, sets value of citizenship
The State Department has set a dollar figure on U.S. citizenship - $450.

Fewer seek unemployment aid as job market improves
The number of people seeking unemployment aid fell last week, a sign that companies are cutting fewer jobs and likely stepping up hiring.

Bernanke testifies on economy and deficit
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is urging lawmakers to balance their desire to cut deficits with policies that could help boost the weak economy in the short run.

WA Senate approves bill to legalize gay marriage
Same-sex marriage has taken a major step toward legalization in Washington state, where the state Senate narrowly has approved the measure.

Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow
The groundhog says there'll be six more weeks of winter.

Woman takes Honda to small-claims and wins big
A Southern California woman took Honda to small-claims court and won much more than what a proposed class-action settlement is offering.

Facebook to go public
The much-anticipated status update means anyone with some cash will be able to own part of a Silicon Valley icon that quickly transformed from dorm-room startup to cultural touchstone.

Dallas-Fort Worth emerges from drought
The first major metropolitan area in Texas is apparently emerging from the state's historic drought.

New rules compel disclosure of 401(k) fees
The Obama administration is taking steps to make the fees charged in 401(k) plans more transparent and broaden the options retirees have for drawing on their nest egg.

Calif. AG asks judge to deny Sirhan Sirhan appeal
California's attorney general says a judge should deny the latest appeal of assassin Sirhan Sirhan saying the man long-convicted in the murder of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy hasn't proved his innocence.

Angelo Dundee dead at 90
The man who worked the corner for some of the biggest names in boxing has died.

Reactions heated on Planned Parenthood-Komen rift
Planned Parenthood says it has received more than $400,000 in the 24 hours since news broke that its affiliates would be losing grants for breast screenings from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Justice Dept rejects gun-smuggling cover-up claim
The Justice Department is rejecting an assertion by a House committee chairman that top Justice officials are covering up events surrounding a flawed gun-smuggling probe.

Hybrid owner wins Honda suit
A California woman has won her lawsuit against Honda because her hybrid failed to meet its stated fuel economy.

Where's the snow? Not in Lower 48; but elsewhere
Snow seems to be missing in action this winter for much of the United States.

Romney defeats Gingrich in Florida
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has money and momentum on his side as he plows ahead into a series of February primary contests after a big win.

11th victim found days after deadly crash
The Florida Highway Patrol says the body of another person has been found in a pickup truck days after a deadly pileup on Interstate 75.

Pfizer recalls birth control packs after mixup
The company is recalling one million packets because of a packaging error that could leave women with an inadequate dose of the hormone-based drugs and raise the risk that they will get pregnant accidentally.

Amtrak derailment leaves at least six hurt
Authorities say at least six people are hurt after a Chicago-bound Amtrak train smashed into a semi that got stuck on tracks in southern Michigan.