Reuters - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama opens the general election campaign with a narrow lead over Republican John McCain but the two score near even among independent voters, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

AP - The federal government predicts that 27 levees could potentially overflow along the Mississippi River if the weather forecast is on the mark and a massive sandbagging effort fails to raise the level of the levees, according to a map obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

AP - Willie Randolph is out as manager of the New York Mets, fired 2 1/2 months into a disappointing season that has followed the team's colossal collapse last September.

AP - A serial killer who mutilated the bodies of four young girls and reportedly drank the blood of one of his victims was among three convicted murderers executed in Japan on Tuesday for crimes an official called indescribably cruel.

AP - Security agents hoping to prevent displays of defiance jogged alongside Olympic torchbearers Tuesday as the flame began its journey through China's restive West, drawing cheers from carefully controlled crowds.

AP - As southeastern Iowa prepared for the Mississippi River's wrath, the rest of Iowa began the slow move from protection to cleanup.

AP - Make more than $250,000 a year? Watch out. Barack Obama wants to raise your income taxes. Social Security taxes, too.

AP - Soldiers scrambled to shore up soggy levies with sandbags Tuesday in southern China as forecasters warned that more heavy rain in the central region could trigger flooding on the country's second-longest river. The death toll rose to 171, state-run media said.

AP - Hundreds of Taliban fighters invaded villages just outside Afghanistan's second-largest city Monday, forcing NATO and Afghan troops to rush in while frightened residents fled.

AP - Military psychologists were enlisted to help develop more aggressive interrogation methods, including snarling dogs, forced nudity and long periods of standing, against terrorism suspects, according to a Senate investigation.

AP - Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples had appointments to secure marriage licenses and exchange vows Tuesday, the first full day same-sex nuptials will be legal throughout California.

AFP - Tens of thousands of victims of China's earthquake were evacuated Monday as torrential rain lashed the region, triggering flood warnings on major rivers including the Yangtze and the Pearl.

AFP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday announced new troops for Afghanistan and tougher sanctions on Iran, delighting US President George W. Bush who was wrapping up a farewell trip to Europe.

Reuters - A bomb exploded in a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Pakistan's northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan on Monday, killing four people and wounding two, police said.