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. The ads will appear on network and cable...

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...

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...

IN THE HEADLINES Obama tells Israelis he's committed to their security, speaking with Hamas rockets as backdrop ... McCain denies he misstated timing of Iraq surge; says some elements began before Bush's order ......

An evacuation order for up to 300 people was lifted Wednesday as more firefighters were put to work on a wind-driven wildfire fueled by sagebrush in central Washington, officials said. A survey Wednesday morning showed...

Leaders of a church destroyed on Sept. 11 have surrendered land needed to rebuild the World Trade Center site in a $20 million deal with the government. The congregation at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church will use...

!!-- 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...

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...

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,...

Ailing Fidel Castro said Wednesday that Cuba's president was right to adopt a "dignified silence" over a Moscow newspaper report that Russia may station nuclear bombers on the island, and said Cuba doesn't owe any...

Venezuela's government denied on Wednesday that President Hugo Chavez invited Russia to open a military base in his country, disputing a report by Russia's Interfax saying that Russian troops were welcome in the South...

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

A powerful earthquake struck off the northern Japanese coast early Thursday, injuring at least 91 people, triggering landslides and cutting power to thousands of people, officials said. Japan's Meteorological Agency...

As of Wednesday, July 23, 2008, at least 4,124 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians...

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...

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...

Christian Bale swept into Barcelona on Wednesday night to attend a glittering Spanish premiere of "The Dark Knight," appearing calm as he greeted fans a day after reports surfaced that his mother and sister had accused...

The title is "Step Brothers." You know, because there are two of them. But Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are essentially playing the same person, which is the movie's fundamental, irreparable flaw. As 40-year-olds...

Balthazar Getty says he's separated from his wife and is embarrassed by recent photos of him kissing a topless Sienna Miller in Italy. "The breakdown of a marriage is a very difficult and painful experience, especially...

Caleb Campbell was a day away from practicing with the Detroit Lions and taking a step toward his dream of playing in the NFL. "He was issued a helmet, ready to go," coach Rod Marinelli said Wednesday. Now, Campbell is...

By the time Chipper Jones pulled up lame, the Atlanta Braves already had plenty of runs for Tim Hudson. Then Hudson departed with a tender elbow. Jones strained his left hamstring, and Hudson left after six innings...

Jose Reyes' three-run homer snapped a sixth-inning tie and the New York Mets, with closer Billy Wagner back, rebounded from a demoralizing defeat by beating the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 on Wednesday night. John Maine...

Manny Ramirez missed Boston's 6-3 win in 12 innings over the Seattle Mariners Wednesday with what his manager said was a sore knee. "Just showed up this morning. He just came in and said, 'My right knee hurts,'"...

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...

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...

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...

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 several continents. The wireless industry...

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. ...

EMC Corp. said Wednesday its second-quarter profit climbed 13 percent, topping Wall Street's forecasts, as the data storage specialist rang up record sales despite fears that economic uncertainty is tamping down...

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...