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MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) A hostage standoff in rural Alabama is entering its sixth day. Authorities say they're still talking with the man accused of fatally shooting a school bus driver on Tuesday and holding a 5-year-old boy hostage in a bunker. Authorities are communicating with Jimmy Lee Dykes through a ventilation pipe to the underground bunker on his property.

BOSTON (AP) Authorities say they're investigating a bus wreck in Boston to determine if charges are warranted against the driver. A group of Pennsylvania high school students and their adult chaperones were heading home when the bus crashed into a bridge Saturday night, injuring 34 people. One was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries and three others were seriously injured. Officials say the charter bus didn't belong on that road, which had a height restriction.

WASHINGTON (AP) A second Republican senator says he will back former Sen. Chuck Hagel as the next Pentagon chief. Nebraska's senior senator, Mike Johanns (JOH'-hanz), says he believes Hagel will be a strong supporter of Israel and other allies of the U.S. and will be firm with America's enemies. Johanns tells the Lincoln Journal Star he believes Hagel earned his endorsement.

BERLIN (AP) A German newspaper is reporting that a man caught last month trying to enter Germany with a check worth about $70 million was Iran's former central bank chief. According to the paper (Bild am Sonntag), customs officials at Duesseldorf airport found the check in his luggage upon his arrival from Turkey. The paper says an investigation into possible money laundering is under way.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Bruce Arians has become the first interim coach to win the top NFL award from The Associated Press, taking the 2012 Coach of the Year honors for his work with the Indianapolis Colts. Arians is now head coach in Arizona. He took over the Colts in late September after head coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia. The Colts went 9-3 under Arians and made the playoffs. Pagano coached the final game of the regular season and a wild-card playoff match.