From the solemnity of a Holocaust museum to a dusty village battered by Hamas rockets, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Wednesday professed "an unshakable commitment to the security" of Israel, whether...

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama paid a predawn visit to the holiest place in Judaism on Thursday, bowing his head in prayer at the Western Wall. Obama placed a small note inside a crevice in the ancient...

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama paid a predawn visit to the holiest place in Judaism on Thursday, bowing his head in prayer at the Western Wall. Obama placed a small note inside a crevice in the ancient...

Barack Obama is going for the gold. The Democratic presidential contender has decided to buy $5 million in national advertising on NBC during the broadcast of the Olympic games, an NBC spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday....

Republican John McCain pushed back on Wednesday against Democratic criticism that he misstated when the troop buildup ordered by President Bush began, saying elements were put in place before Bush announced the strategy...

Today is Thursday, July 24, the 206th day of 2008. There are 160 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On July 24, 1858, Republican senatorial candidate Abraham Lincoln formally challenged Democrat...

The State Department wants to use about two-thirds of its proposed military equipment aid for Pakistan's anti-terrorism programs to help the key U.S. ally upgrade its aging fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighter planes. The...

Hurricane Dolly barreled into South Texas on Wednesday, lashing the coast with winds up to 100 mph and dumping heavy rain that flooded some low-lying areas but spared levees along the heavily populated Rio Grande...

!!-- AUDIO:310,311,309,307,271 -->Rescue legislation sailed through the House on Wednesday aimed at helping 400,000 strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure and preventing the collapse of troubled mortgage companies...

Dr. Victor A. McKusick, a key architect of the Human Genome Project and a winner of the National Medal of Science, has died. He was 86. Officials at Johns Hopkins University, where McKusick was a professor of genetics,...

Hurricane Dolly toppled trees and sent billboards flying Wednesday in the Mexican city of Matamoros, and authorities south of the U.S. border warned of possible flooding. No deaths were reported in Mexico from Dolly,...

Radovan Karadzic sent word he plans to defend himself against U.N. genocide charges, but his fellow Serbs were more enthralled with details that emerged Wednesday about his secret life: a mistress, a bogus family in the...

Nepal's ex-communists should head the new government, political opponents said Wednesday, a day after the Maoists abandoned plans for leadership because their choice for president had been rejected. The newly elected...

A powerful earthquake rattled parts of northern Japanese early Thursday, injuring nearly 100 people, triggering landslides and cutting power to thousands of people, officials said. Japan's Meteorological Agency said...

A teenager wielding a knife died after police shot him with a Taser, the latest in a string of deaths linked to the stun guns, officials said Wednesday. Police spokeswoman Jacqueline Chaput said the 17-year-old boy was...

A stretch of the Mississippi River at New Orleans could be closed for days as crews clean a 12-mile oil slick caused Wednesday when a tanker and barge collided, officials said. Heavy, almost tar-like fuel oil spilled...

About 2 million Americans get a raise Thursday as the federal minimum wage rises 70 cents. The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up, and some small businesses will pass the cost of the wage hike to...

Profits posted Wednesday by Pfizer Inc. and Wyeth show a common theme among pharmaceutical companies _ nearly all the growth they're seeing these days is overseas, driven by emerging markets and the weak dollar. ...

General Motors Corp., pummeled by falling U.S. sales and high gas prices, lost the global sales lead to Toyota Motor Corp. in the first half of this year, but the churning market makes it difficult to predict which...

The following recalls have been announced: _ About 987,000 Dirt Devil vacuum power brush attachment tools, made in China by TTI Floor Care North America, because plastic pieces inside the vacuum tool can break apart...

Entertainment highlights during the week of July 27-Aug. 2: 1928: Leo the Lion roared for the first time at the beginning of MGM's first talking picture, "White Shadows in the South Seas." 1940: The cartoon character...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 27-Aug. 2: July 27: TV producer Norman Lear is 86. Singer Harvey Fuqua of The Moonglows is 79. Actor Jerry Van Dyke ("Coach") is 77. Actor John Pleshette ("Knots Landing") is...

More than 30 actors dissatisfied with stalled contract talks said Wednesday they have joined to campaign for seats on the Screen Actors Guild's board of directors, a move that could eventually break the stalemate with...

50 Cent has sued Taco Bell, claiming the fast-food restaurant chain is using his name without permission in advertising that asks him to call himself 99 Cent. The rapper says in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that...

It was more than 50 years ago but Ry Cooder remembers it like it could have been last week; he was 8 years old and Johnny Cash came on the radio singing "Hey Porter." A third-grader with a guitar was hooked. Cooder...

Swimmer Jessica Hardy's trip to the Beijing Olympics could be in jeopardy after testing positive for a banned substance, according to a person familiar with the test results. Hardy's "A" sample from the recent U.S....

Top-ranked Roger Federer was knocked out of the Rogers Cup with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 loss to France's Gilles Simon in a second-round match Wednesday night. Federer, who won the tournament in 2004 and '06, was playing his...

CC Sabathia threw a three-hitter, his third straight complete game for his new team, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Wednesday night. Ryan Braun had four hits, lacking a double for the...

Tackle Gosder Cherilus agreed to terms on a five-year contract with the Detroit Lions on Wednesday night. Cherilus was the 17th pick in April's draft out of Boston College. He is expected to play right tackle for the...

The game between Toronto and the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night was suspended by rain with the Blue Jays leading 2-1 in the sixth inning. Play will resume Thursday afternoon with two outs in the top of the sixth. ...

EDITOR'S NOTE: This monthly column about the issue of homosexuality by various authors is a partnership between Baptist Press and the SBC Task Force on Ministry to Homosexuals.MIDLAND, Texas (BP)--I spoke recently at a...

EDITOR'S NOTE: This column by Mike Licona of the North American Mission Board is the second column in a four-part series on the exclusivity of Christianity.ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--In yesterday's column I ended by saying...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Alana Blackwell was a junior in high school when a friend at church invited her to hang out with a group of Baptist college students at Louisiana State University. Blackwell, a future LSU Tiger...

WINTHROP, Mass. (BP)--For nine years in Massachusetts, the town of Winthrop has been changing little by little as God has worked through the lives of Dick and Doreen May.The Mays, natives to the area, planted the...

GREENVILLE, S.C. (BP)--About 900 teenagers and camp staff narrowly escaped injury when severe storms struck the campus of North Greenville University July 21.The students, who were attending Centrifuge and M-fuge camps,...

The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer. The warning from Dr. Ronald B....

Scientists may have found a way to test for and possibly avoid the most serious side effect of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, one of the top-selling medicines in the world. In rare cases, statins can cause muscle...

It was a hot lead for detectives on a cold case. People suddenly were getting salmonella at a Minnesota restaurant more than 1,000 miles from the center of the nation's outbreak. Not my tomatoes, protested the manager....

More older children are being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder while the rate is holding steady for children under 12, according to a government report released Wednesday. Some experts called the...

Tuberculosis cases continue to fall in the United States, but some immigrants have disturbingly high rates of the disease, according to a study released Tuesday that called for more aggressive action. TB rates were...

Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. said Wednesday they agreed to settle a high-stakes licensing dispute and end a bitter legal battle that has lasted nearly three years and spanned three continents. The wireless industry...

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world's second-largest memory chip manufacturer, said Thursday it will close its only U.S. factory amid changes in production standards and steep price declines buffeting the industry. ...

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday said Kevin Johnson, the executive in charge of its Windows and Web operations and an instrumental player in the company's failed $47.5 billion bid to buy Yahoo Inc., is leaving the company. ...

Amazon.com Inc. showed Wednesday that it wasn't being hurt by economic weakness and high fuel prices, reporting second-quarter earnings that more than doubled and surpassed analysts' expectations. The Internet retailer...

AT&T Inc.'s second-quarter financial results Wednesday indicated that the weak economy is catching up to the nation's largest telecommunications company, but investors were largely satisfied with what they saw. ...

Hurricane Dolly was expected to make landfall Wednesday near the Texas-Mexico border, bringing up to 15 inches of rain to southern Texas. Flooding was anticipated, especially along the coast, because of the heavy rain...

A cold front hovering over the Ohio Valley early Tuesday was expected to trigger showers and thunderstorms from the Central Plains to New England, while Tropical Storm Dolly threatened Texas. Scattered showers, strong...

Tropical storms Dolly and Cristobal were to continue spinning away in the Atlantic Basin on Monday. Cristobal was to pull away from the North Carolina coastline in the morning, but showers and gusty winds were to last...

Tropical Storm Cristobal was expected to continue to move northeastward along the eastern seaboard on Sunday, possibly making landfall over the Outer Banks of North Carolina. In any case, it was to produce much-needed...

Scattered showers and possible thunderstorms were forecast for northern New England on Saturday, and the same low pressure system could trigger showers over the Great Lakes region. Severe weather was possible over the...