AP - Tony Stewart knows he's taking a gamble by leaving NASCAR's elite Joe Gibbs Racing team to join one that usually runs in the middle of the pack.

AP - Sweat rolled down Lisa Mirander's forehead as she hacked a tangle of saplings and brush down to bare dirt to prevent a wildfire from spreading. It was a tough job, but no harder than the 13 months she served in Afghanistan.

AP - Former faculty at Antioch College, which is temporarily closing amid financial problems, plan to teach in coffee shops, bookstores and parks to keep alive the spirit of the private school known for its pioneering academic programs.

AP - The bodies of two U.S. soldiers missing in Iraq for more than a year have been found, their families said Thursday night. The military would not immediately confirm the report.

AP - The Screen Actors Guild rejected the latest contract offer from Hollywood studios on Thursday but claimed it was willing to negotiate and presented a counterproposal.

AP - Some fights of the 110th Congress have lost their oomph in the waning months before the November elections, with both parties content to run out the clock on messy matters like the war in Iraq, spending bills and various disputes with the White House.

AP - In the decades since they shared a prison cell in North Vietnam, George "Bud" Day has remained a close friend of Republican John McCain and emerged as a staunch opponent of Democrats seeking the presidency.

AP - Fears that the government will be forced to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could well become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

AP - Struggling homeowners who can't afford their mortgages and banks facing big losses would get government help under a foreclosure rescue that has broad bipartisan support.

AFP - Israeli troops shot dead an unarmed Palestinian militant on the border in the Gaza Strip Thursday, the first fatality of a fragile three-week-old truce, prompting retaliatory rocket fire.

AFP - Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition held talks in South Africa Thursday for the first time since Robert Mugabe's one-man election ahead of an expected UN vote on new international sanctions.

Reuters - Georgia recalled its ambassador from Moscow on Thursday after Russia said it had sent its fighter jets into its neighbor's airspace to prevent Georgian troops attacking a separatist region.

Reuters - An accused September 11 conspirator told the U.S. military war court at Guantanamo on Thursday that he should have access to classified evidence against him, arguing that if he is executed the secrets will be safer than in the hands of the FBI or CIA.

Reuters - Republican presidential candidate John McCain raised $22 million for his White House bid in June and had nearly $27 million in the bank at the end of the month, campaign manager Rick Davis said on Thursday.