Bush: `Affront' to Chinese to skip Olympics start (AP)
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:48:10 GMT
AP - President Bush said Sunday he does not feel the need to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics to state his opposition to China's human rights record. Skipping the event would be an "affront" to the Chinese people, he said.

Tired firefighters battle 330 Calif. wildfires (AP)
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:12:03 GMT
AP - Firefighters got a gift of a mild, mostly windless night and a forecast for similar conditions Sunday as they attempted to protect thousands of Santa Barbara County homes from a huge wildfire, one of more than 300 taxing their energy and resources around the state.

Afghanistan orders investigation into US attack (AP)
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:37:02 GMT
AP - Afghanistan's president has ordered an investigation into allegations that missiles from U.S. helicopters struck civilians, though the Ministry of Defense said Sunday that the attack killed or wounded 20 militants.

Obama: Media response to Iraq remarks overblown (AP)
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:42:00 GMT
AP - Barack Obama celebrated "active faith" as an obligation of religious Americans and a chief agent of societal change while speaking Saturday to a nearly all-black roomful of churchgoers, but hoping to reach far beyond them.

Analysis: McCain struggles to regain footing (AP)
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:42:40 GMT
AP - John McCain calls himself an underdog. That may be an understatement. The GOP presidential candidate trails Democrat Barack Obama in polls, organization and money while trying to succeed a deeply unpopular fellow Republican in a year that favors Democrats.

Americans' unhappy birthday: 'Too much wrong' (AP)
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:43:32 GMT
AP - Even folks in the Optimist Club are having a tough time toeing an upbeat line these days. Eighteen members of the volunteer organization's Gilbert, Ariz., chapter have gathered, a few days before this nation's 232nd birthday, to focus on the positive: Their book drive for schoolchildren and an Independence Day project to place American flags along the streets of one neighborhood.

TV's 'The Bachelor' weds in California (AP)
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:44:01 GMT
AP - "The Bachelor" is a bachelor no more. Andrew Firestone, star of the ABC-TV reality show, married Serbian model and actress Ivana Bozilovic Saturday, Firestone's publicist Alisha Mahon told The Associated Press.

Ore. man completes flight of fancy - in lawn chair (AP)
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:46:03 GMT
AP - Using his trusty BB gun to help him return to Earth, a 48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with helium-filled balloons more than 200 miles across the Oregon desert Saturday, landing in a field in Idaho.

Busch nips Edwards to win under caution at Daytona (AP)
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:46:57 GMT
AP - Kyle Busch fell a lap down at Talladega and came back to win. So when a steering problem dropped him to the back of the field at Daytona, he didn't panic. He simply settled in for the long drive back to the front. And back to Victory Lane.

Finalists Federer, Nadal know each other well (AP)
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:47:20 GMT
AP - After moving within a victory of his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title, Roger Federer found time to catch only a few games of Rafael Nadal's semifinal. Federer does have a DVD of Nadal's match, but he wasn't exactly rushing to use it for scouting purposes before they meet for the Wimbledon championship Sunday.