<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080724/pl_afp/usvoteobamamideastdiplomacy'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080724/capt.cps.nbs10.240708040449.photo00.photo.default-512x355.jpg?x=130&y=90&q=85&sig=c.nrABdrtt_TijV.XHpxGA--' align='left' height='90' width='130' alt='US Democratic presidential candidate Barak Obama (left) meets with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Obama was heading for Europe Thursday after vowing to forge an 'unshakeable' bond with Israel if he becomes the next US president and warning a nuclear Iran would pose a 'grave threat' which the world must forestall.(AFP/PPO-HO/Omar Rashidi)' border='0' /></a>AFP - Barack Obama was heading for Europe Thursday after vowing to forge an 'unshakeable' bond with Israel if he becomes the next US president and warning a nuclear Iran would pose a 'grave threat' which the world must forestall.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080724/pl_nm/korea_north_rice_dc'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080724/capt.6997322b84af437b9d5028072311e0be.singapore_asean___sin102.jpg?x=81&y=130&q=85&sig=LGkTrGA1xwUOC_37AgtG7A--' align='left' height='130' width='81' alt='U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice listens at the 15th ASEAN Regional Forum Retreat meetings on Thursday July 24, 2008 in Singapore at the Shangri-La Hotel where the ASEAN Ministerial Meetings are held.(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)' border='0' /></a>Reuters - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday after talks with North Korea that she believed Pyongyang was under no 'illusions' it had to agree to a strong mechanism to verify its nuclear activities.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_re_us/bear_attack'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080724/capt.9badecc4d57c45b9bb484b9df3a5b54e.correction_bear_attack_cars102.jpg?x=98&y=130&q=85&sig=ke_ZNk.Xw4.DJQ9HTXqLzg--' align='left' height='130' width='98' alt='Kevin Brennan, a wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game, talks about the condition of a woman mauled by a bear, and the department's efforts to identify and capture the animal, at a news conference in Ontario, Calif., Wednesday, July 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)' border='0' /></a>AP - A woman mauled by a bear in a rural area of Southern California was recovering Wednesday as game wardens sought to trap and kill the animal.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_en_mu/people50_cent_taco_bell'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080724/capt.b6b71eb7d4a34d599aa596650358b2b9.people_50_cent_taco_bell_ny127.jpg?x=93&y=130&q=85&sig=I7Nmq2ac2asOPQ8xAG7nuw--' align='left' height='130' width='93' alt='In this June 30, 2008 file photo, 50 Cent makes an appearance on MTV's 'Total Request Live' show in New York. 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. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, FILE)' border='0' /></a>AP - 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.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_go_co/congress_housing'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080723/capt.501c83a3a4164db88e5d28ad469794c1.congress_housing__dclb102.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=aMxwx4C7oe6oZksUm52tFA--' align='left' height='86' width='130' alt='Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., left, and the committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., right, take part in a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 23,2008, to discuss President Bush's decision to support the housing bill. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)' border='0' /></a>AP - 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 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_sp_ba_ga_su/bba_red_sox_mariners'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080724/capt.628105de51f149d890224e545b24c407.red_sox_mariners_baseball_waet111.jpg?x=130&y=81&q=85&sig=bixLaPCGl1vlu0B5BUVaTg--' align='left' height='81' width='130' alt='Boston Red Sox's Mike Lowell hits a two-run single against the Seattle Mariners in the 12th inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 23, 2008, in Seattle. The Red Sox won 6-3. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)' border='0' /></a>AP - Mike Lowell hit a two-run single off Sean Green in the 12th inning, and the Red Sox took advantage of two outfield errors to beat the lowly Mariners 6-3 on Wednesday and complete Boston's first series sweep at Seattle in 15 years.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_he_me/cell_phone_warning'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080723/capt.7fa5d479fc964c20af9aefa1e1c2f2f8.cell_phone_warning_paks106.jpg?x=130&y=96&q=85&sig=XItZGX6bdkqhHB6gpFmnsA--' align='left' height='96' width='130' alt='Sara Loughran, a 24-year-old graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, talks on her cell phone while waiting for a bus on campus in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, July 23, 2008. The head of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute released a memo advising faculty and staff to limit cell phone use because of 'the growing body of literature linking long-term cell phone use' to cancer and other possible health problems. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)' border='0' /></a>AP - 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.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_el_pr/mccain'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080723/capt.dfb721915164428a8a3502fc1e0b6c65.mccain_2008_pack109.jpg?x=130&y=91&q=85&sig=IZM8cu3ISsHpZGKe3pJswg--' align='left' height='91' width='130' alt='Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., waves to the audience during a campaign stop at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Wednesday, July 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)' border='0' /></a>AP - 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 in early 2007.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/al_qaida_afghanistan'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080723/capt.9f828cf27a834cc6ac1ed3882681d004.afghanistan_violence_jab104.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=DlAT0Ug866PYfbR29oqLMw--' align='left' height='86' width='130' alt='Afghan police officers are seen around the damaged police vehicle after it was hit by a roadside bomb in Chaparhar district of Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Militants also killed a district police chief in the eastern Nangarhar province Wednesday after striking his convoy with a roadside bomb, said Sayed Mohammad, a provincial official. The growing Taliban-led insurgency is primarily concentrated in the south and east, but significant fighting is occurring in the west and central parts of the country. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)' border='0' /></a>AP - Al-Qaida's foreign fighters who have for years bedeviled Iraq are increasingly going to Afghanistan to fight instead, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States said Wednesday.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_bi_ge/minimum_wage'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080723/capt.9640fe521b1d4bcca79af3b0754afed2.minimum_wage__canu102.jpg?x=130&y=81&q=85&sig=eiUbV8pyOCYpquQYiWfDhg--' align='left' height='81' width='130' alt='Employee Huong Nguyen serves customers at a restaurant in Alhambra, Calif., Wednesday July 23, 2008. The federal minimum wage is expected to increase 70 cents per hour Thursday to $6.55 per hour. It's the second in a three-phase hike that will increase the minimum federal pay rate to $7.25 per hour. The increase was approved by Congress last year and was the first hike in minimum wage in more than a decade. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)' border='0' /></a>AP - 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 consumers.</p><br clear='all'/>

AP - A pet rabbit is credited with saving a couple from a fire that swept through their home in the southern city of Melbourne.

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080724/pl_nm/usa_politics_poll_dc'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080724/2008_07_23t202617_450x327_us_usa_politics_poll.jpg?x=130&y=94&q=85&sig=sUgaWYys6vKRVwNBWZBunA--' align='left' height='94' width='130' alt='Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain (R-AZ) smiles as he is introduced at a campaign picnic outside the Maine Military Museum in South Portland, Maine July 21, 2008. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)' border='0' /></a>Reuters - Democrat Barack Obama has a 6-point lead over Republican John McCain in the presidential race as a growing percentage of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080724/ts_nm/storm_dolly_dc'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080724/2008_07_23t004703_450x300_us_storm_dolly.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=K9EdYCAfnMTzW_JDjKPQWQ--' align='left' height='86' width='130' alt='Workers chat while boarding up a hotel at Bagdad beach, some 38 km (23.6 miles) from the border city of Matamoros July 22, 2008. (Tomas Bravo/Reuters)' border='0' /></a>Reuters - Hurricane Dolly moved inland after tearing into the South Texas coast on Wednesday with 95 mph (150 kph) winds, pouring torrential rain on the U.S.-Mexico border area and threatening floods.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_re_us/tropical_weather'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080723/capt.4b29d38ebc9e4d44b927eb257ebef450.tropical_weather__txms108.jpg?x=130&y=99&q=85&sig=SF_1hF4HowFL1l03k660zw--' align='left' height='99' width='130' alt='A man pedals his bike down a flooded street during Hurricane Dolly, Wednesday, July 23, 2008, in Brownsville, Texas. Hurricane Dolly barreled into South Texas on Wednesday, lashing the coast with winds up to 100 mph and dumping heavy rain that threatened to flood low-lying areas but spared levees along the heavily populated Rio Grande Valley. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)' border='0' /></a>AP - Hurricane Dolly barreled into South Texas on Wednesday, lashing the coast with winds up to 100 mph and dumping heavy rain that threatened to flood low-lying areas but spared levees along the heavily populated Rio Grande Valley.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080723/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_afghanistan'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080723/capt.29048b2cd8214fe99403c56ae0cc8872.afghanistan_violence_jab105.jpg?x=130&y=86&q=85&sig=k27YG2YkgG.cmXpNRweq0g--' align='left' height='86' width='130' alt='A damaged police vehicle is lifted after it was hit by a roadside bomb in Chaparhar district of Nangarhar province east of Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, July 23, 2008. A district police chief was killed in the attack by militants Wednesday after they struck his convoy with a roadside bomb, said Sayed Mohammad, a provincial official. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)' border='0' /></a>AP - Top Pentagon leaders are expected to recommend soon that Defense Secretary Robert Gates order hundreds of additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan over the next month or so, according to a senior military official.</p><br clear='all'/>

Reuters - U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said on Wednesday he had rejected a request from lawmakers that an outside special counsel investigate the case of a Canadian taken off a plane in New York and sent to Syria, where he says he was tortured.

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080723/ap_on_he_me/cell_phone_warning'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080723/capt.7fa5d479fc964c20af9aefa1e1c2f2f8.cell_phone_warning_paks106.jpg?x=130&y=96&q=85&sig=XItZGX6bdkqhHB6gpFmnsA--' align='left' height='96' width='130' alt='Sara Loughran, a 24-year-old graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, talks on her cell phone while waiting for a bus on campus in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, July 23, 2008. The head of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute released a memo advising faculty and staff to limit cell phone use because of 'the growing body of literature linking long-term cell phone use' to cancer and other possible health problems. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)' border='0' /></a>AP - 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.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080723/ap_on_bi_ge/minimum_wage'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080723/capt.9640fe521b1d4bcca79af3b0754afed2.minimum_wage__canu102.jpg?x=130&y=81&q=85&sig=eiUbV8pyOCYpquQYiWfDhg--' align='left' height='81' width='130' alt='Employee Huong Nguyen serves customers at a restaurant in Alhambra, Calif., Wednesday July 23, 2008. The federal minimum wage is expected to increase 70 cents per hour Thursday to $6.55 per hour. It's the second in a three-phase hike that will increase the minimum federal pay rate to $7.25 per hour. The increase was approved by Congress last year and was the first hike in minimum wage in more than a decade. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)' border='0' /></a>AP - 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 consumers.</p><br clear='all'/>

<p><a href='http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080723/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_packers_favre'><img src='http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080723/capt.9258ca2de53746e78791b283db7dcaf1.packers_favre_football_ny160.jpg?x=103&y=130&q=85&sig=..QGki_MqKEWUIUE1dHFRg--' align='left' height='130' width='103' alt='In this Sept. 6, 2006, file photo, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looks on at New York Giants football practice in East Rutherford, N.J. A person with direct knowledge of Goodell's interest said the commissioner has spoken with Packers management several times recently as tensions mounted between three-time MVP Brett Favre and his team. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun,file)' border='0' /></a>AP - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is monitoring the ongoing rift between the Green Bay Packers and Brett Favre. A person with direct knowledge of Goodell's interest said the commissioner has spoken with Packers management several times recently as tensions mounted between the three-time MVP and his team.</p><br clear='all'/>

AP - A woman walking her two dogs in a rural area of Southern California was attacked and severely injured by a bear, but managed to escape and drive herself to a nearby fire station.