AP - A New Jersey man with apocalyptic visions is accused of years of terrorizing his family, raping his five daughters and impregnating three, beating his children with wooden boards and even moving at one point to avoid child welfare investigators.

AP - Georgia's public defender system is still trying to recover its financial footing five years after a courthouse gunman racked up a $3 million taxpayer-funded defense tab on the way to his conviction.

AP - Shortly after entering Congress in 1993, Rep. Bart Stupak withstood President Bill Clinton's charm offensive and voted against free-trade legislation — an early display of the independent streak that has put him at odds with fellow Democrats many times since.

AP - A year ago, President Barack Obama boldly, unequivocally demanded that Israel stop building settlements on the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Today he's left with little choice but to swallow a stinging and very public rebuke from America's closest Mideast ally.

AP - The FBI is investigating the case of an alleged al-Qaida member from New Jersey who's accused of trying to shoot his way out of a hospital in Yemen.

AP - The Marine Corps is trying to determine why a fighter jet suffered engine failures, crashing into the ocean off South Carolina and forcing the pilots to bail out.

AP - Authorities say one person was killed in the tornadoes that struck parts of Arkansas.

AP - A second former New Orleans officer has pleaded guilty in an alleged conspiracy to cover up a deadly police shooting of unarmed residents after Hurricane Katrina.

AP - A congresswoman who is the mother of Detroit ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been summoned to appear before a grand jury in Detroit.

AP - Police say a New York woman who claimed her Toyota Prius accelerated on its own was on her way to have its gas pedal checked at the time of the accident.

AP - Federal regulators are recalling more children's jewelry due to high levels of the toxic metal cadmium.

AP - The pilot of a US Airways jet reported a bird strike and an engine problem shortly after takeoff from an upstate New York airport Thursday, forcing the plane to turn back and make an emergency landing, officials said.

AP - California salmon fishermen may not get much, if any, time on the ocean this year, while their counterparts in Washington and Oregon would fare better because salmon are more abundant there, under recommendations expected Thursday.

AP - Federal regulators expanded their efforts Thursday to go after children's jewelry that contains high levels of the toxic metal cadmium by telling parents to throw away 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'-themed charm bracelets.

AP - Suspected gang member Willie Clark was found guilty of murder Thursday in the drive-by shooting death of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams.

AP - Yemen counterterrorism authorities captured a U.S. citizen of Somali origin after he shot his way out of a hospital in the Middle Eastern country, where he was being held after a sweep of al-Qaida members, authorities said Thursday.

AP - An 18-year-old Mississippi lesbian student whose school district canceled her senior prom rather than allow her to escort her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo said she got some unfriendly looks from classmates when she reluctantly returned to campus Thursday.

AP - A federal appeals court in San Francisco has ruled that the phrase 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional.

AP - A Massachusetts sporting club is donating $10,000 to children's charities as part of a deal settling criminal charges in the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi during a gun fair.

AP - Federal regulators expanded their efforts Thursday to go after children's jewelry that contains high levels of the toxic metal cadmium by telling parents to throw away 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'-themed charm bracelets.

AP - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Thursday he has recused himself and appointed an independent counsel to probe whether Gov. David Paterson illegally took World Series tickets or had improper contact with a woman who accused an aide of domestic violence.

AP - Suspected gang member Willie Clark was found guilty of murder Thursday in the drive-by shooting death of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams after a New Year's Eve outing three years ago.

AP - Two jetliners crossed paths with flocks of Canada geese shortly after taking off from airports on consecutive days in New York and New Jersey, and the collisions with the large birds forced the pilots to make emergency landings. No one was hurt.

AP - Police departments across the country are stepping up efforts to recruit officers who can speak more than one language, in some cases offering raises or even sending cops abroad as part of immersion programs.

AP - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it will consider ways the states can address rising levels of carbon dioxide in oceans.

AP - A 12-year-old circus zebra that caused a stir when he escaped from an animal compound and ran through downtown Atlanta last month has been euthanized.

AP - The community organizing group ACORN has agreed to give up its Ohio business license and not return under another name, as it has in other states, under a settlement struck with a libertarian center that sued it.

AP - Tim Holland, a world backgammon champion who was one of the most prominent competitors in the game's modern heyday, has died. He was 79.

AP - Kansas City school officials promised Thursday to shut down nearly half the district's schools by the start of classes in the fall without offering details of how they intend to implement the complicated plan in just a matter of months.

AP - Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Thursday that he is seeking federal permission to import cheaper drugs from Canada for use in state insurance programs.

AP - A Louisiana man accused of helping his father hide the body of a Ku Klux Klan recruit has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.

AP - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it will consider ways the states can address rising acidity levels in oceans, which pose a serious threat to shellfish and other marine life.

AP - The American Civil Liberties Union sued state prison officials and a private company Thursday, claiming violence is so rampant at the Idaho Correctional Center that it's known as 'gladiator school' among inmates.

AP - Officials broke ground Thursday on a much-delayed 22-acre development project that will bring the NBA's New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn.

AP - A Georgia man who posted a video of himself on the Internet holding a sign that said 'Elton John must die' has been arrested for making terroristic threats.

AP - A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a Nevada law that bars legal brothels that operate in some of the state's rural areas from advertising by newspaper, leaflets and billboards in Las Vegas, Reno and other places where prostitution is illegal.

AP - An engineering firm hired to oversee the reconstruction of city buildings and infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Katrina has been overcharging the city, including billing for theater tickets and a flight to Las Vegas, an internal investigation found.

AP - An Indiana man, whose cross-country crime spree with his girlfriend a decade ago ended in a gun battle with police in San Francisco, was executed Thursday in Texas for killing a sheriff's officer.

AP - A Toyota executive said Thursday the company is 'mystified' by a report that a California man's Prius gas pedal became stuck and caused the car to speed out of control on a California freeway.

AP - Wolves likely killed a teacher jogging alone along a rural Alaska village road, public safety officials said Thursday.