Reuters - U.S. radio personality Don Imus on Tuesday defended linking a football player's race to brushes with the police as Imus tried to dampen a brewing race controversy over remarks he made one day earlier.

Reuters - Consumer sentiment slid to a 16-year low in June while house prices suffered record annual drops in April, according to data Tuesday that suggested a retrenchment in spending that will keep squelching economic growth.

Reuters - An Israeli guard on the perimeter of a farewell airport ceremony for French President Nicolas Sarkozy shot himself dead on Tuesday, causing a security stir but not endangering the visiting leader, police said.

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill that would shave billions of dollars in reimbursement from health plans that contract with the federal Medicare program.

Reuters - Midwest governors pleaded with the White House on Tuesday for more help to counter billions of dollars in damages from floods that drowned parts of the U.S. farm heartland and drove thousands from their homes.

Reuters - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday defied mounting pressure from both inside and outside Africa to call off Friday's presidential election, saying he had a legal obligation to go ahead.

Reuters - Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Tuesday ran into opposition in environmentally conscious California to his policy switch in favor of U.S. offshore oil drilling.

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.