By Julie Gordon TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, under pressure to respond to allegations he was filmed using drugs, said on Friday that he does not smoke crack cocaine and could not comment on a video he had not seen or does not exist. "There has been a serious accusation from the Toronto Star that I use crack cocaine. I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine," he told a news conference. ...

THORNTON, Colo. (AP) — Armed officers and worried parents rushed to a Denver-area high school as students hunkered down in closets and classrooms Friday after a report of a gunman near campus on the last day of class before summer vacation, but the high anxiety faded after a police search turned up nothing.

PARIS (AP) — After two days of intense questioning from French magistrates, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said Friday a court named her as a key witness in an investigation into a controversial payoff to an outspoken businessman that was arranged while she was France's finance minister — stopping short of charging her outright.

By Noémie Olive PARIS (Reuters) - French magistrates decided on Friday not to place IMF chief Christine Lagarde under formal investigation over her role in a 285-million-euro ($368.5 million) arbitration payment made to a supporter of former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Lagarde instead was given the status of a "supervised witness" after two full days of questioning on her 2008 decision as Sarkozy's finance minister to use arbitration to settle a legal battle between the state and businessman Bernard Tapie. ...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — After their 2-year-old son died of untreated pneumonia in 2009, faith-healing advocates Herbert and Catherine Schaible promised a judge they would not let another sick child go without medical care.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A regional garbage collection agency has tossed out plans to build a mega-landfill for Los Angeles' trash less than two miles from Joshua Tree National Park in the remote Southern California desert.

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — A Utah Army veteran was found hanging dead Friday in his jail cell as he awaited trial on charges of killing a police officer and wounding five others during a raid that netted 13 pot plants and sparked a fierce debate about what happened that night.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The ex-girlfriend of a man suspected of kidnapping two Iowa girls this week worried that he would harm her and her family before his impending release from prison in 2011, citing prior sexual and physical abuse and threats, according to court records released Friday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Sen. Charles Schumer urged regulators to "use extreme caution" when reviewing the proposed acquisition of No. 3 cell carrier Sprint Nextel by Japan's Softbank, saying the Japanese company's use of Chinese networking equipment could open up U.S. networks to snooping and hacking.

WASHINGTON (AP) — No one answered the tax-help hotline at the IRS on Friday. And you could forget about getting advice on avoiding foreclosures at the 80 Housing and Urban Development field offices nationwide.

WASHINGTON (AP) — No one answered the tax-help hotline at the IRS on Friday. And you could forget about getting advice on avoiding foreclosures at the 80 Housing and Urban Development field offices nationwide.

By Ilaina Jonas NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Growth Properties Inc has paired with Brookfield Office Properties Inc to bid for one of the most sought after Manhattan office buildings on the market, making what could be the mall owner's entry into the urban street retail real estate market, according to sources familiar with the deal. Bids for 650 Madison Avenue could exceed $1.3 billion, according to sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The decision on the winning bid is expected next week, said one source. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed legislation Friday to award Congress' highest civilian honor to four girls killed in an Alabama church bombing during the civil rights movement. He called it a tragic loss that "helped to trigger triumph and a more just and equal and fair America."

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed legislation Friday to award Congress' highest civilian honor to four girls killed in an Alabama church bombing during the civil rights movement. He called it a tragic loss that "helped to trigger triumph and a more just and equal and fair America."

LONDON (AP) — A tweet posted by the wife of Britain's parliamentary speaker about a politician wrongly linked to child sex abuse was libelous, the High Court ruled Friday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Major stock indexes closed out their first weekly loss in a month in quiet trading Friday.

In the wind-swept prairie called Tornado Alley, the scene is eerily familiar: Homes smashed to splinters. Trees and telephone poles snapped like twigs. Piles of bricks, overturned cars and dazed survivors sifting through rubble in search of a precious photo or heirloom. A town in ruins.

By Joanne von Alroth SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - The Illinois House of Representatives on Friday voted overwhelmingly to allow residents to carry concealed guns, taking the state one step closer to joining all others in allowing some form of carrying guns in public. Illinois is the only state in the nation to ban most people from carrying a concealed gun outside the home. Lawmakers acted on Friday after a federal appeals court in January struck down the ban, saying it violated the right to bear arms enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. ...

TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denied Friday that he smokes crack cocaine and said he is not an addict after a video purported to show him using the drug. The mayor of Canada's largest city did not say whether he has ever used crack.

By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A long-growing backlog of U.S. military veterans' disability claims, which has stoked congressional anger, has dipped in recent weeks, however tentatively. But that is not taking any pressure off President Barack Obama, his Department of Veterans Affairs or the Pentagon to fix a system that has left veterans waiting - sometimes for years - to get answers from the U.S. government about their disability claims. Instead, warnings from Congress are growing more acute. ...

MOORE, Okla. (AP) — The principal of the Oklahoma elementary school where seven children died in a tornado says her teachers did everything they could to save their lives.

PHOENIX (AP) — The jury foreman in Jodi Arias' trial says the panel just couldn't decide whether the killing of her boyfriend was enough to merit a death a sentence.

The 1,300 residents of Cavalier, N.D., may be breathing a little easier Thursday, as the threat that their town would be submerged in floodwaters began to abate.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix is hoping this weekend's release of the resurrected TV series "Arrested Development" will draw more subscribers to its Internet video service.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix is hoping this weekend's release of the resurrected TV series "Arrested Development" will draw more subscribers to its Internet video service.

By David Jones NEWARK (Reuters) - A New Jersey police officer on Friday pleaded not guilty to charges related to a suspected arson fire early this week at the home of an Edison police captain who was inside with his family. Officer Michael Dotro, 35, was arrested at his home in Manalapan, New Jersey, on Thursday and charged with five counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated arson, for allegedly setting the fire, according to a statement from county prosecutors. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Government health officials are investigating cases involving patients who suffered complications after being injected with potentially contaminated medications made by a Tennessee specialty pharmacy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Government health officials are investigating cases involving patients who suffered complications after being injected with potentially contaminated medications made by a Tennessee specialty pharmacy.

By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A Philadelphia couple charged with murder after their baby died without medical care must be held in jail whether or not they make bail, a judge ruled on Friday. The couple, Herbert and Catherine Schaible, believe in faith healing, and those who share their beliefs might be willing to harbor them if they decide to flee, Judge Benjamin Lerner told a court hearing in Philadelphia. The Schaibles were charged with third-degree murder on Wednesday after the April 18 death of their seven-month-old son Brandon from bacterial pneumonia, dehydration and strep. ...

PARIS (AP) — The international police agency Interpol has rejected a Russian push to locate and arrest a Britain-based investor who is a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin's regime.

NEW YORK (AP) — Delta's formula for winning over New York travelers is simple: floor-to-ceiling windows, abundant power outlets and a burger joint with a cult-like following.

By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - The foreman of an Arizona jury that deadlocked over whether Jodi Arias should be put to death for murdering her ex-boyfriend believes she was mentally abused, but said on Friday that had not been enough to excuse her crime. Arias, a former waitress from California, was found guilty this month of murdering Travis Alexander, whose body was found slumped in the shower of his Phoenix-area home in June 2008. He had been stabbed 27 times, had his throat slashed and been shot in the face. ...

By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 declined for a third day on Friday, with the three major stock indexes posting their first negative week since mid-April on lingering concern that the central bank may scale back its stimulus measures to support the economy. Still, the indexes closed well off their lows in light volume ahead of the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend. The Dow ended slightly higher, outperforming the broader market, buoyed by a 4 percent gain in Procter & Gamble . ...

By Mike McDonald GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo was extradited on Friday to the United States to face money-laundering charges, just days after former dictator Efrain Rios Montt's genocide conviction was overturned. A U.S. grand jury decided in 2009 that Portillo, who was in office from 2000 to 2004, should face charges that he laundered $70 million through U.S. banks. ...

MOORE, Okla. (AP) — Sabrina Mitchell is used to looking for silver linings.

President Barack Obama will travel to Oklahoma City on Sunday "to see first-hand the response to the devastating tornadoes and severe weather" that ravaged the area, meet with families affected by the devastation, and thank emergency responders, the White House announced Friday. On Tuesday, Obama will head to the Jersey Shore to assess the rebuilding [...]

By Nick Brown (Reuters) - A plan by American Airlines' parent to exit bankruptcy and merge with US Airways Group is coming under fire from the U.S. Department of Justice over nearly $20 million in severance pay earmarked for outgoing boss Tom Horton. In court papers filed on Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, U.S. Trustee Tracy Hope Davis, the department's official charged with regulating bankruptcy cases in the New York region, said the severance deal for AMR Corp's chief executive violates bankruptcy law. ...

The Boy Scouts of America will get no reprieve from controversy after a contentious vote to accept openly gay boys as Scouts.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — In the latest militant strike on the Afghan capital, Taliban gunmen backed by a suicide car bomber attacked an international aid group's compound on Friday, killing two guards and setting off an hours-long street battle with police in the heart of Kabul .

By Dena Aubin and Sarah N. Lynch NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. regulators will get access to Chinese companies' audit documents under a deal announced on Friday, opening the way to probes of bungled audits after a two-year stand-off between China and the United States. The nonbinding deal is only a partial victory for the United States, which has been blocked from investigating accounting scandals at dozens of Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges. It applies only to enforcement cases against auditors, not against China-based companies suspected of accounting fraud. ...