WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A controversial U.S. health official, Dr. Eric Keroack, has stepped down from his position overseeing programs that include birth control for poor women, the Health and Human Services Department said.

AP - Federal grand juries in Florida and Puerto Rico have indicted five men in a scheme in which baggage handlers smuggled drugs and guns aboard commercial flights, authorities said Thursday.

AP - A small earthquake that rattled southwestern Montana caused no damage but could be felt about 90 miles away.

AP - They have been lovingly groomed for the past three months, and next week all eyes will be on Washington's treasured cherry trees in anticipation of the few days when they burst into an irresistible sea of pale blossoms.

AP - Even with some of its members old enough to collect retirement pay, a party at Hells Angels headquarters is no celebration for the police.

AP - A 29-year-old security guard shot to death his common-law wife and their two toddlers before committing suicide, police said Thursday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. soccer might be hoping for a surge in popularity with the arrival of English star David Beckham, but some fashion critics are also hoping he can teach U.S. sports stars a thing or two about clothes.

AP - A powerful spring storm unleashed dozens of tornadoes as it moved through the Midwest on Wednesday and Thursday, including a twister in Oklahoma City that injured at least five people — two of them critically.

AP - Police will soon be outfitted with a cutting edge flashlight that is not only brighter than others, but too small to be used as a weapon.

AP - The city's police department has long been fighting the perception of lawlessness on the force, even before Al Capone had so many officers in his pocket. Now, one of its best crime-fighting tools is subjecting it to ridicule around the globe.

AP - Federal prosecutors have charged 17 people in a seven-year crackdown on a multistate cocaine trafficking ring known as the Black Mafia Family.

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - As Americans array themselves in team-logo shirts and caps to show off their allegiance for the new baseball season, fans in Boston adopt a different approach.

AP - A phony bomb threat forced nearly 3,000 passengers and crew members to evacuate a Carnival Cruise Lines ship shortly before it was scheduled to leave Florida for the Bahamas.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Community activist Jenelle Dame has a secret weapon to hit back at the predatory lenders blamed for putting millions of Americans at risk of losing their homes: she calls in the sharks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Inspired by the fuel ethanol boom, U.S. farmers intend to plant the largest amount of land to corn in 63 years -- 90.454 million acres -- the government said on Friday, potentially enough to produce a record 12.5 billion-bushel crop.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said 2,500 poor families could earn up to $5,000 a year for meeting goals such as ensuring their children go to school and get medical checkups, under a privately funded test program starting in September.

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - American Ryan Lochte stepped out of the shadows of his lauded team mates by winning two gold medals in world record times at the world championships on Friday.

AP - More than half a century after 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi for whistling at a white woman, his family sat down with federal investigators to discuss the final autopsy on the boy's exhumed body and to hear about the investigation.

AP - Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick said Friday he will push to reverse stem cell research restrictions imposed by his predecessor, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

AP - The city issued its first foie gras fine to a hot dog seller of all people, accusing 'Hot Doug's' of violating a Chicago ban by lacing its specialty dogs with the duck liver delicacy.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. farmers plan to cash in on the fuel ethanol boom by planting the largest area to corn in 63 years, potentially yielding a record crop and calming fears that renewable fuels will steal grain needed for food and feed, the federal government said on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A life-size sculpture of a naked Jesus made out of chocolate has angered a Roman Catholic organization and forced a Manhattan art gallery to reconsider exhibiting it during Easter week.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp., the second-largest U.S. bank, on Friday said it extended its official sponsorship of the Boston Red Sox baseball team by eight years, through 2015.

AP - A homeless day laborer was recovering in a hospital Friday after two 10-year-old boys and an older teen were charged with attacking him on a street and smashing a concrete block into his face.

AP - More than half a century after 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi for whistling at a white woman, his family sat down with federal investigators to discuss the final autopsy on the boy's exhumed body and to hear about the investigation.

AP - The violent storm system blamed for four deaths in three states flooded parts of North Texas as it moved eastward, stranding drivers in high water and forcing dozens of elderly people to evacuate an assisted living center.

AP - A lightning strike killed a high school runner as he left a pole vault pit shortly before a track meet, the county coroner said.

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Unknown gunmen shot dead two people believed to be undocumented immigrants and wounded a third when the vehicle they were traveling in was shot upon in southern Arizona early on Friday, police said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A life-size sculpture of a naked Jesus made out of chocolate has angered Roman Catholic leaders, and a Manhattan art gallery is reconsidering whether to exhibit it during the Easter season.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Farmers in the U.S. Corn Belt, who intend to plant the biggest cord crop in 63 years, will face soggy or cold planting weather over at least the next week, a private forecaster said on Friday.

BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Friday he did not recall being involved in talks on dismissing individual federal prosecutors, countering testimony to Congress on Thursday by a former aide that he was involved in such discussions.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rep. John Dingell, a key player in building consensus for first-ever climate change legislation in Congress, said on Friday he won't rush to get a measure passed despite widespread calls for quick action.

AP - Recalled pet foods contained a chemical used to make plastics, but government tests failed to confirm the presence of rat poison, federal officials said Friday.

AP - A judge on Friday ordered the release of up to 42 criminal defendants, saying they aren't being adequately represented by the city's financially struggling indigent defenders office, but he immediately delayed the order to mid April.

AP - An indictment has been issued in a fatal shooting that allegedly stemmed from a romantic tryst — not against the angry husband who fired the gun, but against his wife, who prosecutors say falsely claimed she was being raped.

AP - A woman who killed her daughter's 16-year-old friend in a crash while driving home drunk from a nightclub was sentenced Friday to at least 16 months in prison.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - So he's faster than a speeding bullet and can leap tall buildings and all that, but there is one thing Superman cannot top -- a 'Winkie.'

BOSTON (Reuters) - A controversial plan to build the first large U.S. offshore wind-power farm won approval from Massachusetts authorities on Friday but still must clear federal regulatory hurdles.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hundreds of students, some waving Mexican flags or chanting in Spanish, walked out of Los Angeles-area schools on Friday to demand national and state holidays honoring migrant labor activist Cesar Chavez.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Manhattan art gallery canceled on Friday its Easter-season exhibit of a life-size chocolate sculpture depicting a naked Jesus, after an outcry by Roman Catholics.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Census Bureau, seeking to control expenses as it undertakes its costliest tally of U.S. citizens, gave Congress a pared-down list of topics on Friday for the 2010 head count, covering basic facts from age, race and sex to home ownership.

AP - Amish students who survived a shooting that killed five of their classmates plan to attend school in a new building Monday, exactly six months after the massacre, authorities said.

AP - When the National Institutes of Health issued some good-news-and-bad-news findings this week for working parents with young children, it started with the 'good' news.

AP - A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday amid a choir of complaining Catholics that included Cardinal Edward Egan.

AP - At Joe's Pond, they put a 65-pound cinder block on the ice and tie it to an old-fashioned alarm clock on the deck of Homer Fitts' cottage, 200 feet away. When the block falls through, the string tugs on the clock and stops it.

AP - Olivia Nabulwala says her family in Uganda was so angry and ashamed to learn she was a lesbian that her relatives hurled insults at her, pummeled her and, finally, stripped her and held her down while a stranger raped her.

AP - The U.S. Coast Guard Academy has lost its way and is struggling with a climate of distrust and cynicism in which nearly one in four cadets say they would not report classmates who commit sexual assault, a task force reported Friday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Consumers who want to be sure about protecting their personal data and preventing identity theft might need to pay solely with cash, shun retailer loyalty programs and only make returns when they have a receipt.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A week after emerging from a rehab center, pop star Britney Spears has reached a divorce settlement with her husband, former backup dancer Kevin Federline, a spokesman for his attorney said on Friday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles police on Friday unveiled their latest tool in the fight against crime -- a flashlight powerful enough to stun suspects but too lightweight to beat them with.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Manhattan art gallery canceled its Easter-season exhibit of a life-size chocolate sculpture of a naked Jesus on Friday after an outcry by Roman Catholics.

AP - Firefighters were working to contain a fast-moving brush fire Friday that sent smoke seeping into the Warner Bros. studios and towering high in the sky behind the famous Hollywood sign.

AP - Darrell Roberson came home from a card game late one night to find his wife rolling around with another man in a pickup truck in the driveway.

AP - Baseball coach James Grandey's jaw is wired shut and his right leg is in a metal brace, so he couldn't lead his team in its first game since a bus crash injured him and killed five of his players.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two members of a notorious New York crime family were found guilty on Friday of extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Manhattan strip club.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Organizers of a grueling surfing competition off Northern California said on Friday they have canceled it this year because of unusually calm seas.

AP - Six Muslim men removed from a plane last fall after being accused of suspicious behavior are suing the airline and threatening to sue the passengers who complained — a move some fear could discourage travelers from speaking up when they see something unusual.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - For the second time in three years, Miss America is all dressed up and looking to attract a new television network, pageant organizers said on Friday.

AP - A congressional subcommittee accused Google on Friday of 'airbrushing history' by replacing post-Hurricane Katrina satellite imagery on its popular map portal with images of the region taken before the storm's devastation.

AP - A group of lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages were filed Friday in federal court on behalf of family members of some of the 154 people killed in Brazil's worst air disaster.

AP - Another wave of storms swept through Texas and Oklahoma Friday, spawning at least three tornadoes in central Texas, dumping rain into swollen creeks and rivers and forcing an evacuation at an assisted living center.