AP - A 7-year-old boy who called 911 from a locked bathroom while armed robbers threatened his parents hugged and high-fived on Wednesday the sheriff's dispatcher who took his call.

AP - Kansas City's school superintendent said Thursday the plan to shutter nearly half the district's schools, while "painful," will move forward quickly so that all the closures will be complete by fall.

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

AP - A Marine Corps F/A-18 pilot and his weapons officer tried to make it back home after both engines on their warplane failed and a fire broke out, but they were forced to eject and ditch the aircraft in the ocean, a spokesman said Thursday.

AP - Partial vote results in Iraq's historic election released Thursday showed a tight contest between the nation's prime minister and a secular challenger during a chaotic count that was marred by accusations of fraud.

AP - A series of strong aftershocks from last month's devastating quake rocked Chile on Thursday as a new president was sworn into office and immediately urged coastal residents to move to higher ground in case of a tsunami.

AP - Americans regained more of their shrunken wealth last quarter, mainly because the healing economy boosted stock portfolios. But the gain was less than in the previous two quarters.

AP - House Democratic leaders on Thursday worked to rally their rank-and-file members around last-minute agreements on insurance taxes and prescription drug coverage that could move President Barack Obama's overhaul of the nation's health care system a step closer to reality.

AP - Street clashes erupted between rioting youths and police in central Athens Thursday as tens of thousands demonstrated during a nationwide strike against the cash-strapped government's austerity measures.

AP - Kansas City's school superintendent said Thursday the plan to shutter nearly half the district's schools, while "painful," will move forward quickly so that all the closures will be complete by fall.

Merlin Olsen, a Hall of Fame defensive lineman and member of the Los Angeles Rams' "Fearsome Foursome" who followed up football with a successful television career in "Little House on the Prairie," NFL broadcasts and commercials, has died. He was 69. Utah State, Olsen's alma mater, said he died outside of Los Angeles early Thursday after battling cancer.

All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes has been told to rest and refrain from athletic activity for 2-to-8 weeks until his thyroid levels normalize, another blow to the New York Mets before opening day. Center fielder Carlos Beltran already is expected to miss the first month of the season following right knee surgery Jan.