MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Hundreds of men in Civil War uniforms marched past the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s church Saturday to commemorate the inauguration of the Confederate president 150 years ago in a city that no longer rolls out the red carpet for them.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Aretha Franklin, who says she's back at ``150 percent,'' is planning to return to the stage in May for her first post-surgery performance.

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) -- A black woman who once worked as a maid for a relative of novelist Kathryn Stockett is suing the author of the best-selling book ``The Help,'' claiming she was the basis for a black servant character who she thought depicted her in a poor light.

Congressional Black Caucus Chair, Emanuel Cleaver, II, (D-MO), was outraged over the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives refusal to hear testimony from Washington, D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton on Feb. 8

LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio executed a neo-Nazi Thursday who shot two men and a teen to death at Cleveland State University more than a quarter-century ago in a shooting spree that targeted blacks.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration set a goal Thursday of revamping the federal No Child Left Behind education law before students start the next school year in the fall, a timeframe likely to clash with the priorities of congressional Republicans.

Therbia Parker Sr. looked forward to the day he would walk inside the finished U.S. National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg and see the artifacts he donated among the exhibits.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday the prospects of closing the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay are very remote, a reflection of the fierce congressional opposition to transferring suspected terrorists to the United States.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Upping the ante in the budget faceoff, the Obama administration warned Friday that workers who distribute Social Security benefits might be furloughed if congressional Republicans force cuts in federal spending.

PARIS (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday urged countries with large trade surpluses like China to let their currencies rise in value to help prevent another global financial crisis.