AP - Wearing everything from T-shirts to tuxedos and lavish gowns, hundreds of same-sex couples rushed to county clerks' offices throughout California to obtain marriage licenses and exchange vows as last-minute legal challenges to gay marriage failed.

AP - Afghan and Canadian forces moved into a series of villages outside of southern Afghanistan's largest city on Wednesday to root out any Taliban who have infiltrated the area, officials said.

AP - For a quarter-century, drilling for oil and gas off nearly all the American coastline has been banned in part to protect tourism and to lessen the chances of beach-blackening spills.

AP - With Russell and Havlicek sitting courtside, and Red surely lighting up a victory cigar somewhere, these Boston Celtics returned to glory like the great teams before them.

AFP - Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement have agreed to begin a Gaza truce in two days, Egyptian mediators said on Tuesday after months of negotiations to try to halt bloodshed in and around the impoverished territory.

AFP - A car bomb at a bus stop in north Baghdad killed at least 51 people and wounded 75 others on Tuesday, security officials told AFP.

Reuters - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday set aside a former Bush administration official's conviction for lying and obstructing justice over his links to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and ordered a new trial.

Reuters - A military judge on Tuesday dismissed the charges against a U.S. Marine officer accused of failing to investigate the death of two dozen civilians at Haditha, lawyers in the case said.

Reuters - U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain will call on Tuesday for energy conservation and the lifting of a ban on U.S. oil and natural gas exploration to help address the nation's "dangerous" dependence on foreign oil.

Reuters - Hundreds of volunteers on the surging Mississippi River piled sandbags atop strained levees on Tuesday as the worst Midwest flooding in 15 years delivered a blow to the U.S. economy and world food prices.

Reuters - A powerful car bomb exploded in a crowded market area of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 51 people and wounding 75, in the biggest attack in the Iraqi capital in months.

Reuters - A ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip will begin on Thursday, Egypt said after mediating a deal that could ease a crippling Israeli blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory.

AP - After weeks of speculation that his job was in jeopardy, Willie Randolph finally got fired by the New York Mets while most fans were sleeping.