WAUKEGAN, Ill. -- The man accused of stabbing to death his 8-year-old daughter and her best friend hunted his child down in a park in a fit of rage because she was supposed to be grounded for stealing money, prosecutors said Wednesday. A judge denied bail for 34-year-old ex-convict Jerry Hobbs after prosecutors said he admitted in videotaped and written statements to beating and stabbing his daughter Laura Hobbs and 9-year-old Krystal Tobias on Mother's Day. He claimed the older girl pulled a knife on him, but prosecutors said they doubt that.

N. Korea takes steps to make more plutonium

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Wednesday it had taken steps that could allow it to harvest more plutonium for atomic bombs and that it would bolster its arsenal, the communist country's latest provocation amid deadlocked talks over its nuclear program. A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the country had removed 8,000 fuel rods from the reactor at its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon, 50 miles north of Pyongyang. North Korea kicked out international nuclear inspectors in late 2002, making it impossible to verify the claim.

Macaulay Culkin takes stand at Jackson trial

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- "Home Alone" star Macaulay Culkin denounced the molestation allegations against Michael Jackson as "absolutely ridiculous" on Wednesday and testified that, contrary to prosecution claims, he was never victimized during his boyhood visits to the pop star's ranch. The 24-year-old Culkin confidently rejected suggestions that he might have been molested during his sleep without knowing about it and dismissed a prosecution display of sex magazines seized from Jackson's home, saying he used to keep Playboys under his own bed.

Grenade during Bush visit sets off questions

TBILISI, Georgia -- Was it a bid to undermine a visit by President Bush -- or evidence of a real assassination plot? A grenade found near a stage where Bush addressed crowds of Georgians on Tuesday has set off a flurry of speculation. The array of potential culprits -- from disgruntled Georgians to local minorities and even Russian saboteurs -- reflects the instability of a volatile country struggling through transition.

School suspends boy for wearing dress to prom

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. -- A high school senior who thought it would be funny to wear a dress to his prom was ticketed $249 for disorderly conduct, suspended for three days and banned from his last track meet. School district administrator Jim Gottinger said the discipline was for more than just the dress, noting Kerry Lofy, 18, was dancing in a sexually provocative manner at the prom, according to a police report. Lofy doubts that was the real reason he was disciplined Monday. "The whole night was that kind of dancing. They can't single me out and say, 'Oh it was you, it was only you,"' he said. "I think it's over the dress."

Man leaves murder- suicide clue: song lyrics

LOS ANGELES -- A man who murdered five family members then shot himself to death left the haunting lyrics of a Grammy-winning song next to his computer and a note that read, "Woe is me. I'm looking forward to seeing you in the next life," authorities said Wednesday. Investigators are still baffled about why David McGowan, a 44-year-old investigator for the Riverside County district attorney's office, killed his wife, mother and three children early Tuesday while they slept. "This investigation is not complete. We're trying to figure out why this very tragic situation occurred," Riverside County Sheriff Bob Doyle said.