AP - Dennis Haysbert likes to believe his portrayal as the first African-American U.S. president on Fox's "24" may have helped pave the way for Barack Obama.

AP - A last-minute no-interest financing offer and strong sales of some cars helped General Motors Corp. keep its U.S. sales over Toyota Motor Corp. last month, but it was still the worst June for the industry in 17 years and a harbinger of more misery ahead.

AP - The Pentagon has revised its policy for recruits who must get waivers for past bad behavior, but officials stopped short of eliminating waiver requirements for petty crimes, The Associated Press has learned.

AP - China's Communist Party boss in Tibet delivered a fresh attack on the Dalai Lama Wednesday, even as envoys of the region's exiled leader met for a second day with Chinese officials for talks aimed at easing tensions following anti-government riots.

AP - A Republican congressional candidate in a majority-white Mississippi district runs ads trying to tie his Democratic rival with Barack Obama's former pastor, seen by some as an anti-white firebrand. Democrats distribute fliers accusing the Republican of wanting a statue to honor the founder of the Ku Klux Klan.

AP - Republican John McCain planned to tour a Colombian port by boat Wednesday to get a firsthand look at the country's drug interdiction programs, a day after he praised President Alvaro Uribe for Colombia's anti-drug efforts but pressed him to improve the government's record on human rights.

AP - As crude soared to a new record, the head of the International Energy Agency declared that the world was in the grip of an "oil shock," and the president of OPEC acknowledged he could not say whether prices would flatten out or continue to soar.

AP - Police and FBI agents captured an ex-convict suspected of killing eight people in two states as he smoked a cigarette outside of a southwestern Illinois bar Tuesday night.

AFP - France's presidency of the European Union got off to a rocky start Tuesday with Poland baulking at a key treaty and President Nicolas Sarkozy in a public spat with European trade chief Peter Mandelson.

AFP - An African Union summit on Tuesday adopted a resolution calling for dialogue between Zimbabwe's political foes and a national unity government following President Robert Mugabe's widely discredited reelection.

Reuters - Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday he was shelving plans to contest a parliamentary by-election due to a "political conspiracy" behind a young aide's accusation of homosexual assault.

Reuters - Al Qaeda's growing north Africa network plans to attack U.S. interests seeking control of the region's energy riches, its Algerian-based leader said in remarks published on Tuesday.

Reuters - Portuguese police have sent their final report on the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann to public prosecutors, who will decide whether to take any further steps, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Reuters - The U.S. State Department on Tuesday criticized reported comments by a senior defense official who said there was an increasing likelihood Israel would attack Iran over its nuclear program.