AP - Defending champion Venus Williams scraped through a tight first set and then pulled away for a 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory over British teenager Naomi Cavaday to begin her bid for a fifth Wimbledon title.

AP - Don Imus, responding to criticism about racial remarks on his radio program, said on the air Tuesday he was trying to "make a sarcastic point" about unfair treatment of blacks in the criminal justice system but had been misunderstood.

AP - Former President Clinton said through a spokesman Tuesday that he is committed to helping Barack Obama become president, his first comments in support of his wife's former rival since their primary ended three weeks ago.

AP - Republican John McCain said Tuesday the federal government should practice the energy efficiency he preaches, pledging as president to switch official vehicles to green technologies and do the same for office buildings.

AP - Fire crews joined aircraft from neighboring states Tuesday to battle hundreds of lightning-caused wildfires across Northern California.

AP - The swollen Mississippi River burst through yet another levee Tuesday, not endangering any towns but proving to anxious Midwesterners that the high water is still a threat.

AP - U.S. consumer confidence fell unexpectedly sharply in June, sinking to its lowest level in more than 16 years, according to a private industry group.

AP - Palestinian militants on Tuesday fired three homemade rockets into southern Israel, the first such attack since a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza militants took effect last week.

AP - A massive foreclosure rescue bill overwhelmingly cleared a key Senate test Tuesday, drawing broad support from Democrats and Republicans alike.

AFP - Philippine rescue divers said they found many bodies Tuesday inside the ferry that sank with more than 850 people on board, confirming the worst fears of desperate relatives.

AFP - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai remained holed up in the Dutch embassy in Harare Tuesday after pulling out of a run-off election he said should be declared "null and void" due to violence, a stance backed by the UN Security Council.

Reuters - Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including an Islamic Jihad commander, in the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday in the first fatal raid since a ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip last week.

Reuters - Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said on Tuesday that Germany planned to increase the number of troops it can send to Afghanistan by 1,000 later this year.

Reuters - Levees held on the Mississippi River on Monday in the worst Midwest floods in 15 years as residents tackled a slow, smelly recovery from multibillion-dollar losses that may boost world food prices.