AP - The speech I was holding should only have been a backup. I knew the words by heart because I'd lived them.

AP - As a doctor, Ron Davis knew what it meant when he got a diagnosis of advanced pancreatic cancer earlier this year.

AP - Space shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven returned to Earth on Saturday and capped a successful expansion job at the international space station, more spacious and robust thanks to a new billion-dollar science lab.

AP - Milder-than-expected weather on Saturday gave fire crews hope that they could rein in a series of Northern California wildfires that have destroyed dozens of homes and forced thousands of residents to evacuate.

AP - When Kathy Wiebold moved into her ranch-style house a couple years ago, people assured her it wasn't in the flood plain and had never flooded. So she didn't purchase the extra insurance.

AP - Both violent and property crimes declined in 2007 from the previous year, the FBI reported Monday. But one expert warned the figures could mask rising murder rates among young black men.

AP - Susan Atkins, the former Charles Manson follower who confessed to killing pregnant actress Sharon Tate during a murderous rampage in 1969, has a terminal illness and has asked for compassionate release from prison in her final days, authorities said Thursday.

AP - After wedding-day celebrations subside, gay and lesbian couples from other states who marry starting this week in California face sobering challenges.