The rally for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington drew tens of thousands of people to the National Mall on Saturday. The event paid homage to activists who endured adverse conditions to demand equality for African-Americans. But many marchers said civil rights work is not yet done in an era of high unemployment among blacks and legal controversies such as the George Zimmerman verdict. (Read full story here.)

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced Friday he plans to retire within the next year. In the meantime, Ballmer will continue to be CEO; his successor has not been named. His retirement comes less than two months after Microsoft decided to reorganize. The company has struggled to keep up with rivals Google and Apple in recent years.

Syria agreed Sunday to grant access to the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack last week. U.N. investigators will be able to immediately investigate the strike that reportedly killed more than 300 people. The U.S. is waiting to hear whether President Bashar Assad’s regime used chemical weapons against his own people before the country decides to take military action.

After Bradley Manning announced Thursday he plans to live life as a female named Chelsea and seek hormone treatments, officials said he will be unable to do so at the all-male prison in which he will serve. Fort Leavenworth do. (Read full story here.)

All information is from The Associated Press.Carrie Blazina is the nation and world editor and the city editor for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].