Kevin West

With its planned marriage to a U.S. rival now on hold, P&O Princess Cruises PLC is expected to come under intense pressure to talk with Carnival Corp., the No. 1 cruise operator whose $5.4 billion bid for Princess sparked a shareholder revolt.

Sprint PCS announced Friday that it will close five of its customer service centers, cutting an estimated 3,000 jobs.

An expanding scandal in the Roman Catholic Church has spread to New Hampshire, where 14 priests accused of sexual misconduct with children over a 25-year span are being investigated for possible prosecution.

A man registered as a sexual offender in North Carolina has been charged with an attack on a 7-year-old girl who was picked up at a playground in Smyrna.

A fall and two big wobbles on the balance beam enabled top-ranked Georgia to overtake No. 3 Alabama in the last rotation for a 197.2-196.95 win in their women's gymnastics meet Friday.

Dennis Franchione wants to make this clear: He's staying at Alabama. He's just hoping the Crimson Tide upperclassmen follow suit instead of transferring to other teams following heavy NCAA sanctions.

Pete Montrenes struck out eight batters in six innings and Mississippi scored six runs in the eighth inning to beat Jacksonville State 10-2 Friday in the Rebels' season opener.

Home runs by Mike Mueller and Josh Todd drove in five runs as Auburn beat Marshall 11-5 Friday.

Clemson coach Larry Shyatt, still dizzy from his team's record-setting 118-115 victory over No. 19 Wake Forest this past Wednesday, isn't sure if the momentum will swing the Tigers way when they battle No. 24 North Carolina this weekend.

Shortstop Carlos Sosa had three hits and second baseman Brent Boyd drove in three runs Friday as Alabama beat Georgia Southern 5-2.