MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Breaking records is the least of Cullen Jones' goals for next week's world swimming championships; his bigger aim is to break racial stereotypes.

AP - A 24-year-old man has been arrested, suspected of cutting the head off of a 17-year-old girl's pet dog and leaving it at her front door in a gift-wrapped box.

AP - Jeff Siddoway is a rancher who sells hunting trips for trophy elk on his land in eastern Idaho. He is also a Republican state senator.

AP - Sailors hung flags and banners and cleaned and removed equipment as they prepared the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy for its last hurrah: decommissioning after more than 39 years of service.

AP - Friends say they knew Hassan Abujihaad was unhappy with American foreign policy, but they were surprised when the former Navy sailor was arrested on charges of supporting terrorism.

AP - A jury acquitted a man whose six dogs fatally mauled his elderly neighbor in her front yard.

LONDON (Reuters) - What many believe to be the only painting of Jane Austen will be auctioned in New York in April by Christie's, a relation of the English author and owner of the picture said.

LUDLOW, Vermont (Reuters) - In the seasonal rhythm of New England, March marks the start of sugar season, when farmers tap thawing maple trees for their sap. But some worry that a warming climate is endangering their future.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - One of the last surviving communities built by freed slaves after the U.S. Civil War is on the verge of disappearing, despite long efforts to save it.

AP - Taxpayers are getting the chance to turn the tables on the Internal Revenue Service and audit the agency's services.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Until two weeks ago, Ruth Ebert never had the slightest interest in the video games favored by her one and only granddaughter.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc., the No. 3 U.S. carrier, said on Friday it raised fares $5 each way on flights within the continental U.S.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fast-food restaurant chains, eager to increase sales during the sluggish afternoon hours, are working hard to satisfy snack cravings with an array of smaller, cheaper products.

AP - Stocks gained Friday after a surprise jump in sales of existing homes last month lent strength to the growing notion that the housing sector may not be as weak as feared.

AP - State regulators fined California's largest health insurance provider $1 million for violating state law, saying an investigation found that the company systematically dropped policyholders after they became sick or pregnant.

AP - A convicted killer tried to escape from a Chicago hospital in leg shackles and stabbed a nurse and three other people with a metal shank before he was caught on a bus outside, authorities said.

AP - FBI agents arrested a parish fire chief accused of trying to have a witness killed to prevent testimony in a federal grand jury investigation.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Until two weeks ago, Ruth Ebert never had the slightest interest in the video games favored by her one and only granddaughter.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. states want to provide health care coverage for the uninsured, but daunting costs could derail or shrink some of their plans.

ADDISON, Illinois (Reuters) - In a month or two, Jose Cortez will likely lose the home he wanted for his children. But he says that's not what bothers him most.

AP - Sailors in blue lined the deck of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy on Friday as guns boomed to commemorate the decommissioning of 'Big John' after nearly 40 years of service.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An automobile service station in Nebraska recently began promoting a brand of 'terror-free gasoline' at its pumps - a move that has some Middle East experts crying foul.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House press secretary Tony Snow, a colon cancer survivor, said on Friday he would undergo surgery next week to remove a small growth in his lower abdomen.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - After a six-month probe, U.S. and state officials said on Friday they could not conclude how spinach became infected with toxic E. coli bacteria that killed three and sickened 205, but said wild pigs and well water were possible sources.

AP - Sixty-four-year-old Vivian Westerman rode out Hurricane Katrina in her 19th-century house. So terrible was the experience that she wanted two things before the 2006 season arrived: a backup power source and a gun.

AP - In the final months of Rebecca Riley's life, a school nurse said the little girl was so weak she was like a 'floppy doll.'

AP - A county judge ordered the state Friday to enforce a law preventing animal shelters from using gas chambers.

AP - A federal judge ordered a former Navy sailor held without bail Friday on charges that he supported terrorism by disclosing secret information about the location of Navy ships and the best ways to attack them.

AP - A Chicago fire truck heading to a call collided with an empty school bus Friday morning, killing one firefighter and injuring three others. The bus driver had just finished dropping off the children for the day.

AP - The family of a former Marine who was given multiple electric shocks and then shot to death by police sued Friday, claiming the officers used excessive force and violated the man's constitutional rights.

AP - Stocks tried to carve out modest gains Friday after a surprise jump in sales of existing homes last month lent strength to the growing notion that the housing sector may not be as weak as feared. Technology stocks lagged, however, following a handful of profit warnings this week.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House press secretary Tony Snow, a colon cancer survivor, said on Friday he would undergo surgery next week to remove a small growth in his lower abdomen.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Alaska Airlines plane due to fly from Oakland to Seattle on Friday was delayed by a bomb threat.

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (Reuters) - A male Texas legislator has proposed that the state pay pregnant women considering abortion $500 if they agree not to end their pregnancies.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government said on Friday it has overstated by almost 2 million people the number of Americans who have no health insurance, lowering the figure to 44.8 million.

AP - In the final months of Rebecca Riley's life, a school nurse said the little girl was so weak she was like a 'floppy doll.' The preschool principal had to help Rebecca off the bus because the 4-year-old was shaking so badly. And a pharmacist complained that Rebecca's mother kept coming up with excuses for why her daughter needed more and more medication. None of their concerns was enough to save Rebecca.

AP - A federal judge refused to dismiss the terrorism support charges against alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla on Friday, rejecting defense claims that his 3 1/2 years in custody as an enemy combatant violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial.

AP - Butch Holst and his wife were thrilled in 1978 when they sealed a deal on a downtown home at the foot of Mount Juneau. Thrilled, that is, until someone showed them a photo of their house in a National Geographic article that said Juneau has the highest risk of an avalanche disaster of any city in America.

AP - A convicted rapist whose support from Gov. Deval Patrick became an election flash point last fall lost his eighth bid for a new trial Friday.

AP - The records of most inmates in Texas' scandal-rocked juvenile prison system will be reviewed to determine whether their sentences were unfairly extended, an official investigating the system said Friday.

AP - Wall Street carved out a modest gain Friday after a surprise jump in sales of existing homes last month lent strength to the growing notion that the housing sector may not be as weak as feared. Technology stocks lagged following a handful of profit warnings, but the major indexes still ended the week with solid gains.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee on Friday urged the Internal Revenue Service to stop hiring private firms to collect federal tax debts and said he was launching an investigation into the practice.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - It may not have big floppy ears, but a thick book in play at the criminal fraud trial of fallen media mogul Conrad Black is an elephant in the courtroom just the same.

AP - A man accused of cutting the head off his teenage ex-girlfriend's dog and leaving it at her front door in a gift-wrapped box was charged with animal cruelty and torture Friday.

AP - Get ready for 'CSI: Houdini.'

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (Reuters) - A little under one-third of U.S. households have no Internet access and do not plan to get it, with most of the holdouts seeing little use for it in their lives, according to a survey released on Friday.

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas legislator has proposed that pregnant women considering abortion be offered $500 not to end their pregnancies.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army took aim on Friday at an Air Force drive to take control of its growing fleet of drones flying 3,500 feet and higher above battlegrounds.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - After a six-month probe, U.S. and state officials said on Friday they could not conclude how spinach became infected with toxic E. coli bacteria that killed three and sickened 205, but that wild pigs were one possible environmental source.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's inspector general will blame nine U.S. Army officers, including up to four generals, for missteps after the April 2004 death in Afghanistan by friendly fire of former NFL star Pat Tillman, the 'CBS Evening News' reported on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee on Friday urged the Internal Revenue Service to stop hiring private firms to collect federal tax debts and said he was launching an investigation into the practice.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two diaries written by Anna Nicole Smith have sold on online auction site eBay for more than $500,000 to a German man planning to use them as the basis of a book, according to the memorabilia house that sold them.

AP - A federal appeals court on Friday affirmed a civil contempt ruling against a former university professor hours after he ended a two-month hunger strike to protest a judge's decision to extend his prison term.