AP - Tropical Storm Edouard hit the Texas Gulf coast east of Galveston on Tuesday with strong winds and heavy rain, but did little more than soak the travelers who came to relax on the tourist town's beaches.

AFP - Russians on Tuesday paid their last respects at a lying-in-state for Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a dissident writer who challenged the Soviet Union but was largely forgotten by a younger generation.

AFP - China declared Tuesday it could guarantee a safe Olympics three days ahead of the Games, as it tightened security in its remote northwest following a deadly attack blamed on Muslim terrorists.

Reuters - The Pentagon on Monday said it was closing a controversial intelligence office that had raised concerns about domestic spying by the military after the September 11 attacks.

Reuters - Tropical Storm Edouard strengthened late on Monday as it churned across the Gulf of Mexico and will likely hit the Texas coast with near-hurricane strength, U.S. forecasters said.

Reuters - A small plane crashed into a vacation home on the Oregon coast on Monday, killing three children inside and two adults on board, officials said.

Reuters - The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday is expected to hold interest rates steady as dismal housing markets and tight credit weigh on the economy, while it signals lingering inflation concerns despite lower oil prices.

Reuters - Heavy mists around K2 prevented a Pakistani army helicopter from attempting to airlift a stricken Italian climber off the world's second-highest mountain on Tuesday, following a climbing disaster that killed 11 others.

Reuters - President George W. Bush offered a mixed assessment of China's role in the world but said in an interview published on Tuesday it is "important to engage" the Chinese.

Reuters - About 1,000 Marines deployed to train Afghan security forces will have their tours of duty extended by 30 days, a U.S. defense official said on Monday.

Reuters - The Olympic torch made its way to Beijing on Tuesday, allowing China to put the focus back on sport after one of its worst militant attacks days before the Games.

AP - In a meeting with Brett Favre that ran late into Monday night, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy likely tried to cut through more than a month's worth of drama to figure out whether Favre really was 100 percent committed to playing again.

AP - The Federal Reserve, caught between mounting job losses and rising inflation, is likely to sit tight and hope that the interest rate cuts it has already provided will be enough to heal a sick economy.

AP - Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was hospitalized in serious condition Monday after the car he was driving left a rural road in the Mississippi Delta and flipped several times.