• Ariz. governor considers changing immigration law (AP)

    Alfredo Salas, 28, shows his license Thursday shortly after being pulled over and let off with a warning for a cracked windshield by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office during a crime and immigration sweep. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says 13 people were arrested in a crime and immigration sweep conducted the same day Arizona's new immigration law took effect. The arrests were for outstanding warrants and other crimes. It's unclear whether any of those arrested were illegal immigrants. (AP Photo/Amanda Lee Myers)AP - Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is asking legislators to consider whether they should change the state's immigration law in the wake of a judge's ruling blocking enforcement of parts of it.


    Locations: Arizona, US,Maricopa, AZ, US

  • US casualties in Afghanistan soar to record highs (AP)

    NATO and US soldiers are seen standing guard in Kabul. Three foreign soldiers were killed in two separate Taliban-style bomb attacks in Afghanistan's volatile south, NATO said Friday.(AFP/File/Massoud Hossaini)AP - In a summer of suffering, America's military death toll in Afghanistan is rising, with back-to-back record months for U.S. losses in the grinding conflict. All signs point to more bloodshed in the months ahead, straining the already shaky international support for the war.


    Locations: Kabul, Kabul, AF,Afghanistan

  • Signs of oil spill recovery entering new phase (AP)

    James Lee Witt, right, listens to BP PLC CEO of Gulf Coast Restoration Organization Bob Dudley as he speaks at a news conference to announce Witt's hiring as an advisor to BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill response in Biloxi, Miss., Friday, July 30, 2010. Witt, the former FEMA director under President Bill Clinton, is expected to advise BP through its long-term response and recovery efforts. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)AP - BP's new boss says it's time for a "scaleback" in cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Federal officials say there is no way the crude could reach the East Coast. And fishing areas are starting to reopen.


    Locations: Biloxi, MS, US,Mexico,East Coast, US

  • NY reps. bicker over 9/11 responder bill's defeat (AP)

    FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2001 file photo, firefighters make their way over the ruins of the World Trade Center through clouds of smoke at ground zero in New York. A bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to people sickened by World Trade Center dust fell short in the House on Thursday, July 29, 2010, raising the possibility that the bulk of compensation for the ill will come from a legal settlement hammered out in the federal courts. (AP Photo/Stan Honda, Pool, File)AP - The House's rejection of bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to people sickened by World Trade Center dust has opened a sharp rift between two New York congressmen, Republican Peter King and Democrat Anthony Weiner.


    Locations: New York, NY, US,Ground Zero, New York, NY, US

  • Agency weighs skirting Congress on immigration (AP)

    Felipa Solario pauses as she cries while telling her story of having her husband, an illegal immigrant, taken away by authorities some months ago, while she joined hundreds at a solidarity rally at St. Matthews Church to protest the provisions of the new Arizona immigration law that went into effect Thursday, July 29, 2010 in Phoenix, the day after portions of Arizona's SB1070 went into effect, but after a federal judge struck down some of the law's provisions. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)AP - The Obama administration, unable to push an immigration overhaul through Congress, is considering ways it could go around lawmakers to let undocumented immigrants stay in the United States, according to an agency memo.


    Locations: Arizona, US,Franklin, TN, US,Phoenix, AZ, US,United States

  • More Democrats say Rep. Rangel should resign (AP)

    Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., gets in an elevator as he leaves his office for a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, July 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)AP - Calls for Rep. Charlie Rangel's resignation rained down on Capitol Hill late Friday from House Democrats who said more than a dozen ethics charges against the 20-term lawmaker showed a disregard for the rules and undermined the public's confidence in Congress.


    Locations: Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, US,New York, NY, US

  • Mother accused of starving 3 kids gets life term (AP)

    FILE -This July 20, 2009 file photo provided by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office shows Abneris Santiago. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Wednesday, July 28, 2010, in Dallas for Santiago who is accused of starving three of her children kept locked in a hotel bathroom for as long as nine months. The 31-year-old woman's trial begins one day after co-defendant Alfred Santiago received a 99-year prison term for injury to a child and continuous sexual abuse. (AP Photo/Dallas County Sheriff's Office, File)AP - A mother whose three children were found starving after being shut away in a hotel bathroom for as long as nine months was sentenced to life in prison Friday after changing her plea to guilty in the middle of her trial.


    Locations: Santiago, Santiago, CL,Dallas, TX, US,Dallas, TX, US

  • Bill Clinton emerges on Chelsea's NY wedding eve (AP)

    Former President Bill Clinton talks to people as he leaves a restaurant in Rhinebeck, N.Y., on Friday, July 30, 2010. Clinton made a long-anticipated appearance in the upstate New York village where his daughter is getting married tomorrow, drawing crowds of onlookers as preparations continued largely out of sight for the grand and secretive occasion. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)AP - Bill Clinton made a long-anticipated appearance in the upstate New York village where his daughter is getting married, drawing crowds of onlookers Friday afternoon as preparations continued largely out of sight for the grand and secretive occasion.


    Locations: Chelsea, New York, NY, US,New York, NY, US,Rhinebeck, NY, US

  • Store manager tells robber Jesus wouldn't approve (AP)

    AP - A cell phone store manager in South Florida dissuaded an armed man from robbing the store by telling him Jesus wouldn't approve. Instead of panicking when the suspect pulled a weapon, Nayara Goncalves started talking with him. He was jobless, and the 20-year-old Christian offered to connect him with friends who could help him find work.

    Locations: South Florida, FL, US

  • AP source: Yankees working to acquire Berkman (AP)

    Houston Astros' Lance Berkman, right, tosses his bat and helmet after striking out to end the sixth inning as Cincinnati Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez, left, heads for the dugout in a baseball game Saturday, July 24, 2010, in Houston. The Reds won 7-0. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)AP - The Yankees are working on a trade to acquire Lance Berkman from the Houston Astros. The deal was gaining momentum Friday and was likely to happen before Saturday's trade deadline, a baseball executive familiar with the discussions said. The executive spoke on condition of anonymity because talks were ongoing.


    Locations: Houston, TX, US

  • House votes to end offshore drilling moratorium (Reuters)

    Reuters - The House of Representatives on Friday voted to end the federal moratorium on deepwater drilling for oil companies that meet new federal safety requirements.

    Locations: Houston, TX, US

  • BP to try well kill Tuesday (Reuters)

    Drill ships and response vessels work in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast line while attempting to drill relief wells at the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill wellhead July 27, 2010. REUTERS/Sean GardnerReuters - BP Plc said on Friday it could seal its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well by next week as U.S. lawmakers prepared to vote on reforms that would put tougher restrictions on offshore drilling.


    Locations: Louisiana, US,Mexico,United States,Persian Gulf,Gulf of Mexico

  • China overtakes Japan as No.2 economy: FX chief (Reuters)

    Reuters - China has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest economy, the fruit of three decades of rapid growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

    Locations: China,Japan

  • Imports slow Q2 growth as business spending surges (Reuters)

    Reuters - U.S. economic growth slowed in the second quarter as companies invested heavily in equipment from abroad and the pace of consumer spending eased, raising concerns about the recovery in the rest of 2010.

    Locations: United States

  • House vote seen close on oil spill bill (Reuters)

    Drill ships and response vessels work in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast line while attempting to drill relief wells at the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill wellhead July 27, 2010. REUTERS/Sean GardnerReuters - A close vote is expected later on Friday when the U.S. House of Representatives decides on legislation to reform the oil industry's offshore drilling practices in response to the massive Gulf oil spill.


    Locations: Louisiana, US,Mexico,United States,Persian Gulf

  • Floods kill more than 400 in Pakistan's northwest (Reuters)

    A boy hangs on to the front of a cargo truck while passing through a flooded road in Risalpur, located in Nowshera District, in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province July 30, 2010. REUTERS/Adrees LatifReuters - Heavy monsoon rains have triggered the worst floods in decades in Pakistan's northwest, killing more than 400 people and forcing thousands from their homes as authorities struggle to reach stranded villagers.


    Locations: Nowshera, North-West Frontier, PK,Pakistan

  • Afghan police fire shots to quell protest after accident (Reuters)

    FILE - In this July 21, 2010 file photo, a Marine carry team lifts a transfer case containing the remains of Cpl. Paul J. Miller at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Miller, of Traverse City, Mich., died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. NATO announced Friday, July 30, 2010 that six more U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan, bringing the death toll for July to at least 66 and surpassing the previous month's record as the deadliest for American forces in the nearly 9-year-old war. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)Reuters - Afghan police fired shots on Friday to disperse hundreds of people protesting the deaths of civilians in an accident involving a U.S. embassy vehicle, police said.


    Locations: Traverse City, MI, US,Dover Air Force Base, Dover, DE, US,Afghanistan,United States

  • Fire prompts evacuation of 2,000 homes north of L.A (Reuters)

    Reuters - A fierce brush fire nearly doubled in size overnight as it threatened power lines that supply electricity to the greater Los Angeles area, but evacuation orders for 2,000 homes were lifted, officials said on Friday.

    Locations: Greater Los Angeles, CA, US

  • Syria, Saudi leaders urge Lebanon rivals to avoid violence (AFP)

    Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (L) shakes hands with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as Lebanese President Michel Sleiman smiles upon their arrival at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut. Assad and Abdullah urged Lebanese parties to avoid resorting to violence in the face of mounting political tensions in the country.(AFP)AFP - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah on Friday urged Lebanon's rival factions to avoid violence, on an unprecedented joint trip to Beirut aiming to defuse political tensions.


    Locations: Beirut, Bayrut, LB,Lebanon,Saudi Arabia,Syria

  • Berlusconi split with ally erodes once comfortable majority (AFP)

    Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi attends a Parliament session in Rome. Berlusconi saw the erosion of his once comfortable majority in parliament Friday as 32 lawmakers defected in support of the prime minister's estranged longtime ally.(AFP/Tiziana Fabi)AFP - Italy's Silvio Berlusconi saw the erosion of his once comfortable majority in parliament Friday as 33 lawmakers defected in support of the prime minister's estranged longtime ally.


    Locations: Rome, Lazio, IT,Italy