Beasley returns to practice with Heat summer team

MIAMI -- Michael Beasley returned to practice with the Miami Heat on Thursday, one day after the No. 2 overall pick in last week's NBA draft was knocked out of his first official summer-league workout with a chest bruise. [more]

Venus vs. Serena in all-Williams Wimbledon final

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WIMBLEDON, England -- The most dominant siblings in professional tennis are back in the Wimbledon final, reviving a rivalry that has been absent from the All England Club since Serena Williams beat older sister Venus in 2003. [more]

Spilborghs' 2-run single in 11th lifts Rockies

DENVER -- Todd Helton's bad back and Willy Taveras' pulled thigh muscle made both of them spectators at Coors Field long before the fireworks lit up the mountain skies Thursday night. [more]

Moss expanding his horizon

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- After eyeing NASCAR for some time, Randy Moss has a foot in the door. The Patriots All-Pro receiver has announced he's purchased 50 percent of a Truck Series team. [more]

Paul, Hornets agree to new deal

NEW ORLEANS -- Chris Paul and the Hornets reached a contract agreement Thursday that could keep the All-Star point guard with the team for at least the next four seasons. [more]

Rangers sign Naslund, Kalinin; say goodbye to Jagr

NEW YORK -- Just as the New York Rangers ushered in the Markus Naslund era on Broadway, they turned out the lights on the Jaromir Jagr show. [more]

Gunmen kill 8 police in southern Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Gunmen lobbed a grenade and sprayed a police checkpoint with gunfire in southern Afghanistan, killing eight officers, Kandahar's police chief said Friday. [more]

Syria returns marble artifact stolen from archaeological site in Iraq

BAGHDAD -- Syria has returned a marble artifact to Iraq that was stolen from one of the country's archaeological sites. [more]

NKorea says US, other parties slow on nuclear pact

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Friday it will not take further steps to dismantle its nuclear program until the U.S. and its other negotiating partners award fuel oil and political benefits promised under an aid-for-disarmament deal. [more]

France to greet freed hostage Ingrid Betancourt with warm welcome at presidential palace

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PARIS -- Ingrid Betancourt, freed from captivity and humiliation in the jungles of Colombia, returns to her beloved France and a hero's welcome Friday in the gilded halls of the presidential palace. [more]

Colombia hostage rescue sidelines Chavez

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Hugo Chavez, once a key mediator in securing hostage releases from Colombian rebels, could do little more than phone congratulations to President Alvaro Uribe after this week's bold rescue. [more]

Iran says it will answer nuclear proposal today

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's state radio is reporting that Tehran will respond today to an international proposal on its nuclear program. [more]

Brinkley: Husband's affair 'shattered' my life

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CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. -- A tearful Christie Brinkley testified at her divorce trial Thursday that she was devastated by her husband's affair with a teenager and his attempts to find other paramours through pornographic Web sites. [more]

Just how close 'friends' are Madonna and A-Rod?

NEW YORK -- A-Rod and the Material Girl? That's a lot of hits. [more]

Rachael Ray employee claims anorexia bias

NEW YORK -- A former accountant for Rachael Ray's TV cooking show has filed a $1 million lawsuit saying he was forced out of his job because he has an eating disorder. [more]

Priestley says music industry 'a mess' but works

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Jason Priestley says he got a crash course on the Nashville music industry while directing a reality series about the Canadian band the Road Hammers. [more]

Larry Harmon, longtime Bozo the Clown, dead at 83

LOS ANGELES -- Larry Harmon wasn't the original Bozo the Clown, but he was the real one. [more]

2008 Essence Music Festival begins Friday

NEW ORLEANS -- From her rebuilt but not yet fully furnished home, Irma Thomas anchors her faith in the rebirth of New Orleans to the return of the Essence Music Festival. [more]

Bush welcomes new US citizens

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- President Bush has invoked the memory of Thomas Jefferson in welcoming new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. [more]

Freed US hostages, families reuniting in Texas

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas -- Back on U.S. soil, three American hostages rescued from Colombia rebels are now in the process of reintegrating into a society they've been absent from for more than five years. [more]

Wildfire chases July 4th visitors from Big Sur

BIG SUR, Calif. -- Independence Day is normally a booming time for tourism here, with visitors settling into cliffside vacation homes or trekking out to campgrounds nestled among the redwoods. But this year, the only out-of-towners in Big Sur are firefighters working around the clock to save the storied community from flames. [more]

Prosecutors: Deception ran deep in Vt. kidnapping

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- A Vermont man whose 12-year-old niece was found dead near his home carefully orchestrated events and e-mails to make it appear she had gone to see someone she met online, prosecutors said Thursday as they charged him with kidnapping. [more]

Details emerge in capture of killing spree suspect

CHICAGO -- As the hunt wound down for the man suspected in a killing spree that left eight people dead in two states, a disheveled Nicholas T. Sheley walked calmly into a Subway restaurant in suburban St. Louis, asked to use the phone and called his lawyer -- all but ensuring his capture. [more]

Bush seeks new start for troubled hospital

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BETHESDA, Md. -- President Bush helped break ground Thursday for a new military medical center to replace Walter Reed hospital, whose reputation was soiled by allegations of shoddy care for war veterans. [more]