Associated Press Headline News

BOY SCOUTS DELAY DECISION ON ADMITTING GAYS

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Faced with intense pressure from two flanks, the Boy Scouts of America said Wednesday it needed more time for consultations before deciding whether to move away from its divisive policy of excluding gays as scouts or adult leaders.

Possible changes in the policy - such as a proposal to allow sponsors of local troops to decide for themselves on gay membership - will not be voted on until the organization's annual meeting in May, the national executive board said at the conclusion of closed-door deliberations.

POSTAL SERVICE TO CUT SATURDAY MAIL TO TRIM COSTS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The financially struggling U.S. Postal Service said Wednesday it will stop delivering mail on Saturdays but continue to disburse packages six days a week, an apparent end-run around an unaccommodating Congress.

The service expects the Saturday mail cutback to begin the week of Aug. 5 and to save about $2 billion annually, said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe.

"Our financial condition is urgent," Donahoe told a press conference.

ANALYSIS: OBAMA, GOP DISAGREE, AGAIN, ON SPENDING

WASHINGTON (AP) -- After two tumultuous years of budget brinkmanship, President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress finally agree on something - namely, that a previous 10-year pact to cut $1 trillion across the board was such a bad idea it must be stopped before it starts.

If consensus counts as good news in an era of divided government, consider this: They also disagree vehemently on a suitable replacement.

As a result, they seem likely to spend the spring and perhaps a good part of the summer struggling to escape a bind of their own making. This time, Medicare and the rest of the government's benefit programs are likely to face changes.

PEW: MOST FACEBOOK USERS TAKE A BREAK

NEW YORK (AP) -- Too much drama, boredom and scads of irrelevant information are just some of the reasons Facebook users give for taking a break from the world's biggest social networking site for weeks at a time, according to a new study.

A report from the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project found that some 61 percent of Facebook users had taken a hiatus of at least several weeks for myriad reasons, whether they were weary from an onslaught of gossip, or for the more pious, the arrival of Lent.

Yet the use of Facebook, whether constant or not, is pervasive in America.

Of the American adults who use the Internet, 67 percent are on Facebook, Pew found. That compares with 20 percent who use LinkedIn and 16 percent who are on Twitter.

But users do come and go, some temporarily, and some for good. Seven percent of Internet users said they used Facebook at one point but no longer do. By its own count, Facebook Inc. has 1.06 billion users worldwide who check in at least once a month. This includes millions of duplicate and fake accounts. More than 150 million users are in the U.S.