California's top court legalizes gay marriage
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - California's Supreme Court declared that gay couples in the nation's biggest state can marry - a monumental but perhaps short-lived victory for the gay rights movement Thursday that was greeted with tears, hugs, kisses and at least one instant proposal of matrimony. Same-sex couples could tie the knot in as little as a month. But the window could close soon after - religious and social conservatives are pressing to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would undo the Supreme Court ruling and ban gay marriage.

China: Quake death toll could reach 50,000
LUOSHUI TOWN, China (AP) - Troops dug burial pits in this quake-shattered town and black smoke poured from crematorium chimneys elsewhere in central China as priorities began shifting Thursday from the hunt for survivors to dealing with the dead. Officials said the final toll could more than double to 50,000. As the massive military-led recovery operation inched farther into regions cut off by Monday's quake, the government sought to enlist the public's help with an appeal for everything from hammers to cranes and, in a turnabout, began accepting foreign aid missions, the first from regional rival Japan.

Woman indicted in Missouri MySpace suicide case
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Missouri woman was indicted Thursday for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbor who committed suicide. Lori Drew, 49, of suburban St. Louis, who allegedly helped create a MySpace account in the name of someone who didn't exist to convince Megan Meier she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans, was charged with conspiracy and fraudulently gaining access to someone else's computer.

McCain believes Iraq war can be won by 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Republican John McCain declared for the first time Thursday he believes the Iraq war can be won by 2013, although he rejected suggestions that his talk of a timetable put him on the same side as Democrats clamoring for full-scale troop withdrawals. The Republican presidential contender, in a mystical speech that also envisioned Osama bin Laden dead or captured, and Americans with the choice of paying a simple flat tax or following their standard 1040 form, said only a small number of troops would remain in Iraq by the end of a prospective first term because al-Qaida will have been defeated and Iraq's government will be functioning on its own.

Tenn. GOP mocks Michelle Obama's 'proud' remark
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Republican Party "welcomed" Michelle Obama's visit for a fundraiser Thursday night with an online video that takes the Democratic presidential front-runner's wife to task for a comment some considered unpatriotic. Michelle Obama was campaigning in Wisconsin last February for her husband, Barack Obama, when she said: "For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country."

Vitamin D may help curb breast cancer, study finds
Breast cancer patients with low levels of vitamin D were much more likely to die of the disease or have it spread than patients getting enough of the nutrient, a study found - adding to evidence the "sunshine vitamin" has anti-cancer benefits. The results are sure to renew arguments about whether a little more sunshine is a good thing. The skin makes vitamin D from ultraviolet light. Too much sunlight can raise the risk of skin cancer, but small amounts - 15 minutes or so a few times a week without sunscreen - may be beneficial, many doctors believe.

'$100 laptop' nonprofit now teamed with Microsoft
BOSTON (AP) - The One Laptop Per Child project is about to find out whether Microsoft Corp., a rival the nonprofit group once derided, is the solution to its problems in spreading inexpensive portable computers to schoolchildren. Microsoft and the laptop organization announced Thursday that the nonprofit's green-and-white "XO" computers now can run Windows in addition to their homegrown interface, which is built on the open Linux operating system. That had been anticipated for months, but it amounts to a major shift.

Country star Shania Twain, husband splitting up
TORONTO (AP) - Shania Twain and husband-producer Robert "Mutt" Lange are splitting up after 14 years of marriage. The 42-year-old Canadian country superstar and 59-year-old Lange married in 1993 and have a 6-year-old son named Eja. Her publicist provided no further details Thursday about the couple's breakup. Lange and Twain, best known for her hits "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" and "You're Still the One," recently opened a hiking trail on their property in New Zealand, fulfilling a pact designed to allay fears that wealthy foreigners were snapping up and sealing off the country's prime real estate.

Ginobili, Duncan help Spurs force Game 7
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - The San Antonio Spurs' Big Three came through. Now they have to win one on the road to keep their title defense alive. Manu Ginobili scored 25 points, Tim Duncan had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Tony Parker added 15 points in the Spurs' 99-80 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in Game 6 on Thursday night. The win forced a seventh game in the Western Conference semifinals on Monday in New Orleans. Home teams are 20-1 in the second round.

Flyers hold off Penguins 4-2, force Game 5
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Pittsburgh Penguins' road to the Stanley Cup finals along the Pennsylvania Turnpike took an unexpected detour. The smooth ride through 12 playoff games got a bit bumpier when the Philadelphia Flyers staved off elimination from the Eastern Conference finals with a 4-2 victory Thursday night, forcing a Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Sunday.