AP - Russia's use of overwhelming military force against Georgia, including strategic bombers and ballistic missiles, is disproportionate to any threat from the former Soviet state and could escalate tensions in the volatile region, a senior U.S. official said Saturday.

AP - Republican John McCain on Saturday issued a scathing critique of Barack Obama's judgment and readiness to be commander in chief, telling a veterans' group his Democratic rival had tried to "legislate failure" in Iraq and placed his own ambition ahead of military success there.

AP - The fatal stabbing of the father of a former Olympian at a Beijing landmark cast a sad shadow over the first full day of Olympic competition Saturday, just hours after China's jubilant opening of the Summer Games.

AP - The ex-mistress of former presidential candidate John Edwards said Saturday she will not participate in DNA testing to establish the paternity of her daughter.

AP - Witnesses who called 911 after the crash of a charter bus that killed at least 17 people described a chaotic scene, telling emergency workers of bloody passengers crushed beneath the smoking wreckage, according to calls released Saturday by police.

AP - Nearly three dozen Olympic athletes from Georgia are anxiously following the news of violence in a breakaway region of their country, following a bombardment by Russian tanks, planes and artillery.

AP - In an Olympic medley of sports and politics, President Bush on Sunday called for more religious freedom in China, sought an end to an escalating conflict between Russia and Georgia and cheered U.S. athletes as they dribbled and swam for the gold.

AP - Russia expanded its bombing blitz Sunday against neighboring U.S.-allied Georgia, targeting the country's capital for the first time while Georgian troops pulled out of the capital of the contested province of South Ossetia under heavy Russian shelling.

AP - Michael Phelps powered to the wall and whipped around to get his time, so eager to see another amazing set of numbers that he bumped his head on the end of the pool.

AFP - A Chinese man stabbed to death the father-in-law of US Olympic volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon in Beijing on Saturday in an attack that left his wife seriously injured, raising new fears about security at the Games.

AFP - Russian warplanes on Saturday carried out bombing raids across Georgia, reportedly leaving scores dead, as a conflict over control of South Ossetia widened well beyond the breakaway region.

Reuters - American fencer Mariel Zagunis led a U.S. sweep of the women's Olympic individual saber medals on Saturday, beating compatriot Sada Jacobson 15-8 in the final.

Reuters - South African President Thabo Mbeki arrived in Zimbabwe on Saturday to mediate power-sharing talks between the ruling party and opposition amid growing optimism over an agreement.

Reuters - Comedian and actor Bernie Mac, who starred in one of U.S. TV's few black sitcoms and appeared in the "Ocean's 11" movies, died in Chicago on Saturday after a bout with pneumonia. He was 50.