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August 20, 2008

Rice signs missile defense deal with Poland

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal Wednesday to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, an agreement that prompted an infuriated Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet satellite. Read more

August 18, 2008

Hundreds evacuated near the Grand Canyon after flooding

Working through the challenge of darkness, rescue helicopters continued through Sunday night to evacuate hundreds of residents and campers stranded by the flooding caused by a breached dam near the Grand Canyon. Read more

August 14, 2008

Arkansas Democratic chairman dies after shooting

A man barged into the Arkansas Democratic headquarters Wednesday and fatally shot the state party chairman before speeding off in his pickup. Police later shot and killed the suspect after a 30-mile chase.

Police identified the suspect as Timothy Dale Johnson, 50, of Searcy, about 50 miles northeast of Little Rock. They didn't know a motive. However, moments after the shooting, Johnson pointed a handgun at a worker at the nearby Arkansas Baptist headquarters. An official there said he told the worker, "I lost my job." Read more

July 28, 2008

Evacuations ordered as fire blazes near Yosemite park

California fire authorities Sunday ordered the evacuation of regions to the west of Yosemite National Park as a wildfire spread uncontrolled, burning buildings and threatening some 2,000 homes. Read more

July 21, 2008

Obama in Iraq on fact-finding mission

Democratic White House candidate Barack Obama was in Iraq on a fact-finding tour on Monday, days after confirming plans to withdraw US troops from Iraq in 16 months if he takes office next year. Read more

July 11, 2008

Residents in Northern California flee wildfires

Firefighters on Thursday worked to save homes from on an out-of-control wildfire in the Sierra Nevada foothills ahead of an expected wind change that could further complicate efforts to corral the blaze. The fire in Butte County has already destroyed dozens of homes this week and forced some 10,000 residents to flee. Read more

July 10, 2008

50 homes destroyed in Butte County blaze

Tamara Roberts sent an e-mail to a relative on Monday, assuring her that this mountain community of 26,000 people along the Feather River had survived its latest brush with wildfire. Read more

July 9, 2008

Erratic winds prompt new evacuations in California

They're evacuating Paradise. Authorities ordered thousands of residents in the town north of Sacramento to leave after erratic winds blew embers across wildfire containment lines, destroying 40 homes nearby, in the latest setback for already strained fire crews. Read more

July 8, 2008

McCain spars with Obama on tax issues

Sen. John McCain tried yesterday to relaunch his campaign with a pledge to use broad-based tax cuts to revive the ailing economy - and barbs contrasting his views with Sen. Barack Obama's.

"The choice in this election is stark and simple," McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, told a town-hall meeting in Denver. "Sen. Obama will raise your taxes. I won't. I will cut them where I can." Read more