Jenks denied major league record in win By The Associated Press

Jenks denied major league record in win By The Associated Press
1 hour, 22 minutes ago



Bobby Jenks fell short of a major league record before finishing off the Royals. Ryan Budde ended the New York Yankees' night with a game-winning hit for the Angels.

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Jenks settled for a share of the record when Joey Gathright broke the Chicago closer's string of 41 straight outs, and then stopped the White Sox's worst skid in 16 years by saving a 4-3 victory over Kansas City on Monday night.

Jenks, who tied Jim Barr's mark of 41 for San Francisco in 1972 last Sunday, gave up a single to Gathright to lead off the ninth.

"I messed that one up myself," Jenks said. "I shook off slider to go back to curveball. But he's hot, tip my hat."

Budde doubled in the winning run in the 10th inning to lift Los Angeles to a 7-6 win. It was his first RBI and extra-base hit in the majors.

"It feels great, a dream come true. Wow!" said a grinning Budde, who made his big league debut July 31. "To do it against the Yankees is awesome."

Budde hit a 2-0 pitch from Sean Henn (2-1) into right-center to score Howie Kendrick, who had doubled to right with one out.

In other AL games, it was: Seattle 9, Minnesota 4; Boston 6, Tampa Bay 0; and Oakland 6, Toronto 4. Texas' game at Baltimore was postponed by rain and will be made up Wednesday as the opener of a doubleheader.

At Chicago, Jenks retired the next three batters after Gathright's hit for his 34th save in 39 chances. Danny Richar and Scott Podsednik homered for the White Sox, who avoided losing nine in a row for the first time since Aug. 19-28, 1991.

"It feels weird. I forgot the last time we shook hands. I forgot what to do, I was confused," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said.

Matt Thornton pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings to earn the win. David Riske (1-3) was charged with the loss.

The AL West-leading Angels' second straight victory kept them two games ahead of Seattle, which beat Minnesota 9-4. The visiting Yankees dropped five games behind Boston in the AL East and had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Darren Oliver (0-1) pitched a perfect 10th to get the victory.

"It's tough to take, but both teams can't win," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "It's tough to lose games like that, but you understand it's going to happen. We didn't beat ourselves, they beat us."

Alex Rodriguez hit his major league-leading 40th homer and Jorge Posada also connected for New York. Mariners 9, Twins 4

Raul Ibanez homered twice and drove in three runs to lead Seattle to its fourth straight win.

Richie Sexson and Kenji Johjima also went deep for the visiting Mariners, who also have won seven of nine to improve to a season-high 18 games over .500.

Seattle's Horacio Ramirez (8-4) allowed nine hits and four earned runs in 7 1-3 innings, his longest outing of the season.

The Mariners chased Minnesota starter Matt Garza (2-4) in the third inning. He was charged with seven runs and nine hits, recording just seven outs.

Ibanez is hitting .431 (28-for-65) in August. He leads the league with nine home runs this month, all in his last 13 games. He hit six in his first 97 games.

Red Sox 6, Devil Rays 0

Tim Wakefield allowed four hits over seven innings to improve to 19-2 against Tampa Bay.

Wakefield (15-10) struck out five and walked one, and moved into a tie for the major league lead in wins this season. The knuckleballer, who is 9-0 at Tropicana Field, has the most wins by any Tampa Bay opponent.

Mike Lowell homered for the AL East-leading Red Sox, who are 11-8 in August.

Scott Kazmir (9-8) gave up six runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings for Tampa Bay.

Athletics 6, Blue Jays 4

Jack Hannahan hit his first major league home run and Joe Blanton remained unbeaten in August for Oakland.

Nick Swisher also homered for visiting Oakland, which has won six of eight. Swisher singled twice and went 3-for-4.

Blanton (11-8) allowed one run and six hits over seven innings, walking none and striking out six to improve to 3-0 with a 3.96 ERA in four August starts.

Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum lost for the first time in six starts. Marcum (10-5) allowed six runs and nine hits over three innings, matching his shortest outing of the season.

Vick to plead guilty in dogfighting case By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press Writer

Vick to plead guilty in dogfighting case By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 10 minutes ago



RICHMOND, Va. - Less than a month after saying he looked forward to clearing his name, Michael Vick now acknowledges the heinous acts associated with his name are true.

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The Atlanta Falcons quarterback said through a lawyer Monday that he will plead guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges, an admission that likely will mean prison time.

For now, any hopes of salvaging his NFL career are secondary to his impending confinement.

"His focus is on his family, his focus is on answering to this judge," Vick's lead defense attorney, Billy Martin, told The Associated Press after announcing the plea agreement Monday.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson can sentence Vick to up to five years in prison and fine him $250,000, although federal sentencing guidelines will call for less. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the terms are not final, told the AP that prosecutors will recommend a sentence of a year to 18 months.

The official said such a sentence would be more than what is usually recommended for first-time offenders, reflecting the government's attempt to show that animal abusers will receive more than a slap on the wrist.

Vick will return Monday to the same courthouse where he pleaded not guilty and resolved to prove his innocence just 25 days ago. This time he will plead guilty, and Hudson will schedule a date for sentencing.

Since that initial court appearance, all three of Vick's co-defendants have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in the government's case against him, including testifying against him if the case had gone to trial in November as scheduled.

The co-defendants said Vick bankrolled virtually the entire "Bad Newz Kennels" operation in rural southeastern Virginia, including providing gambling funds, an act that could trigger a lifetime ban from the NFL under the league's personal conduct policy.

Two of them also said Vick participated in the brutal executions of at least eight underperforming dogs.

Facing those allegations and the prospect of a superseding indictment from a new grand jury that began meeting Monday, Vick opted to change his plea.

"Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made," Martin said in a statement. "Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter."

The NFL noted in a statement that Vick's admission wasn't in line with what he told commissioner Roger Goodell shortly after being charged.

"We totally condemn the conduct outlined in the charges, which is inconsistent with what Michael Vick previously told both our office and the Falcons," the NFL said.

The league, which barred Vick from training camp, said it has asked the Falcons to withhold further action while the NFL's own investigation wraps up.

The Falcons said they were "certainly troubled" by news of the plea, but would withhold further comment in compliance with Goodell's request.

Vick's Atlanta attorney, Daniel Meachum, told the AP that Vick is taking a chance with his guilty plea as far as his career is concerned because there have been no discussions with the league in recent days.

"There's no promise or even a request of the league to make a promise," Meachum said.

Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, said in a statement:

"We believe the criminal conduct to which Mr. Vick has pled guilty today cannot be condoned under any circumstances. Speaking personally, as I have previously stated, the practice of dog fighting is offensive and completely unacceptable. I can only hope that Mr. Vick, who is young man, will learn from this awful experience."

Martin said Vick is paying a high price for allowing old friends to influence his behavior, but he emphasized that his client takes full responsibility.

"There were some judgment issues in terms of people he was associating with," Martin said in a telephone interview. "He realized this is very serious, and he decided to plead so he can begin the healing process."

Another defense attorney, James D. "Butch" Williams Jr., alluded to the harsh public backlash against Vick since the July 17 indictment detailed the abuse of dogs on Vick's property in Surry County, Va.

"Michael is a father, he's a son, he's a human being; people oftentimes forget that," he said.

Animal-rights activists said they hoped the high-profile case would increase public awareness and help bring down other dogfighting rings.

"The only good that can come from this case is that the American people dedicate themselves to the task of rooting out dogfighting in every infected area where it thrives," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.

Quanis Phillips of Atlanta, Purnell Peace of Virginia Beach and Tony Taylor of Hampton have pleaded guilty to the same charges facing Vick: conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and conspiracy to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture. Phillips and Peace will be sentenced Nov. 30, Taylor on Dec. 14.

The case began April 25 when investigators conducting a drug search at a massive home Vick built in Surry County found 66 dogs, some of them injured, and items typically used in dogfighting. They included a "rape stand" that holds aggressive dogs in place for mating and a "breakstick" used to pry open a dog's mouth.

Vick contended he knew nothing about a dogfighting operation at the home, where one of his cousins lived, and said he rarely visited. The former Virginia Tech star also blamed friends and family members for taking advantage of his generosity and pledged to be more scrupulous.

The July 17 indictment said dogs that lost fights or fared poorly in test fights were sometimes executed by hanging, electrocution or other brutal means. The grisly details fueled public protests against Vick and cost him some of his lucrative endorsement deals.

___

Associated Press Writers Harry R. Weber and Doug Gross in Atlanta, Michael Felberbaum in Richmond and Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington contributed to this report.

NYC firefighters doomed by lack of water By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer

NYC firefighters doomed by lack of water By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 55 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Firefighters who battled a killer blaze in a condemned ground zero skyscraper lacked a basic tool: the building's water supply system was busted.

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Fire marshals discovered that the network, known as the standpipe, was not operational Saturday when two firefighters died inside the burning former Deutsche Bank tower. Investigators found a chunk of the standpipe unattached and laying on the floor in the basement, the city said Monday.

The troubled building had been plagued with citations before the fire, and received another violation for failure to maintain the standpipe system after investigators made the discovery.

Firefighters Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia got lost on the 14th floor as their air tanks ran out. They inhaled smoke and died of cardiac arrest; their funerals are Thursday and Friday. More than 50 firefighters suffered minor injuries.

The former Deutsche Bank office building has been empty since it was damaged on the morning of the World Trade Center attack six years ago, and was being dismantled floor by floor. It once stood 41 stories, but demolition crews had reduced it to 26 by Saturday.

The city said Monday that fire investigators had determined the blaze began in an area on the 17th floor where workers stopped for decontamination.

Fire marshals spoke to eyewitnesses who said workers would smoke and put out cigarettes in the area, which was near the construction elevator used to access the floor.

The city said there also was some electrical equipment there, including hot water heaters for decontamination showers.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement that investigators still did not know how the fire started.

"At this point we do not know the cause of the fire, but full and comprehensive investigations are under way," he said. "We are using every possible resource to find out how this fire started and what went wrong."

The mayor said separate investigations were launched to determine how the fire started and what led to the firefighters' deaths.

Officials also were trying to sort out the confusion about who was responsible for the standpipe and other issues.

Private contractors are working on the state-owned building, while multiple local, state and federal agencies have a hand in the decontamination and deconstruction. The effort was described by the city as "unusually complex."

The skyscraper's owner, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., bought the tower three years ago and took over the removal project. As the demolition proceeded, the city Department of Buildings issued a separate permit for each floor before it could be taken down.

With each floor permit, the Department of Buildings visually inspected the valves and caps for the standpipe in the area, but the inspections did not include testing the water flow. The last permit was as recent as July 31, for the dismantling of the 26th floor.

In working buildings, the fire department is responsible for checking the water flow in standpipes every five years, according to fire department spokesman Jim Long. Building owners typically maintain them in between.

The city could not say on Monday when the water network had last been tested, but the fire department said the building had been issued at least one other violation related to standpipe problems.

Apart from the water problems, the building owner had racked up a number of citations before the fire from city building inspectors, for complaints including debris falling from the building and excessive amounts of combustible debris and plywood stacked around the site.

The deaths also raised questions about why emergency responders would enter an empty building that was long ago condemned.

The president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, Jack McDonnell, said there was no other choice than to send firefighters into the building.

"It never could have been contained from the outside," he said. "The building could have collapsed, endangering lives and property."

US military looks to reduce role in Iraq By ROBERT BURNS and LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writers

US military looks to reduce role in Iraq By ROBERT BURNS and LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writers
Tue Aug 21, 3:32 AM ET



WASHINGTON - U.S. military officials are narrowing the range of Iraq strategy options and appear to be focusing on reducing the U.S. combat role in 2008 while increasing training of Iraqi forces, a senior military official told The Associated Press on Monday.

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The military has not yet developed a plan for a substantial withdrawal of forces next year. But officials are laying the groundwork for possible overtures to Turkey and Jordan on using their territory to move some troops and equipment out of Iraq, the official said. The main exit would remain Kuwait, but additional routes would make it easier and more secure for U.S. troops leaving western and northern Iraq.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because internal deliberations are ongoing, emphasized that the discussions do not prejudge decisions yet to be made by President Bush. Those decisions include how long to maintain the current U.S. troop buildup and when to make the transition to a larger Iraqi combat role.

It is widely anticipated that the five extra Army brigades that were sent to the Baghdad area this year will be withdrawn by late next summer. But it is far less clear whether the Bush administration will follow that immediately with additional drawdowns, as many Democrats in Congress are advocating.

Bush has mentioned publicly that he likes the idea, first proposed late last year by the Iraq Study Group, of switching the emphasis of U.S. military efforts from mainly combat to mainly support roles. But he also has said that this should not happen until Baghdad in particular is stable enough to enable Iraqi political leaders to make hard choices about reconciling rival interests among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

There are now 162,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, of which 30,000 have arrived since February as part of Bush's revised strategy to stabilize Baghdad and to push Iraqi leaders to build a government of national unity.

Military efforts to stabilize the country effort have made strides in recent months, but political progress has lagged.

In a joint statement Monday, Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., said that while the military buildup has "produced some credible and positive results," the political outlook is darker. The senators said that during their visit to Iraq last week they told Iraqi leaders of American impatience with the lack of political progress, and "impressed upon them that time has run out in that regard."

In a separate telephone interview with reporters, Levin urged the Iraqi assembly to oust Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and replace his government with one that is less sectarian and more unifying.

Speaking to reporters in Washington by phone from Tel Aviv, Levin acknowledged that while there is broad frustration with the lack of action by the al-Maliki government, U.S. officials cannot dictate a change in leadership there. He said he and Warner did not meet with al-Maliki when they were in Iraq this time.

In response to Levin's remarks about dumping al-Maliki, Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council, noted that Iraqi leaders have been holding talks in recent days on ways to move toward a unified government.

"We urge them to come together, reach agreements and show the Iraqi people and the rest of the world their determination to create a stable and prosperous Iraq," Johndroe told reporters, adding that the administration believes al-Maliki is capable of moving the talks to a successful conclusion.

Under pressure even from members of his own party to change direction in Iraq, Bush is expected to decide his next steps after hearing in September from Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, on what the U.S. troop buildup has accomplished.

Petraeus and Crocker are likely to present their views to Congress on Sept. 11 or 12, said Johndroe, the National Security Council spokesman. Johndroe said White House officials are consulting with congressional leaders this week on setting a date for the testimony.

Bush also will receive advice and recommendations from Defense Secretary Robert Gates as well as the Joint Chiefs and Adm. William Fallon, the top commander for American forces in the Middle East.

Bush's options are limited, politically and practically. The Army and Marine Corps do not have the capacity to increase troop levels, or even to maintain the current number beyond next spring. With the 2008 presidential election approaching, it's not so much a question of whether troop levels will be cut but when and how much.

U.S. commanders in Iraq believe they are making substantial progress toward stabilizing Baghdad and other contested parts of the country — including in Anbar province in western Iraq where the insurgency has weakened noticeably this year. But they are dubious about the ability of Iraq's political leaders to take advantage of the improved security in ways that promote political reconciliation.

Petraeus and other senior commanders have said in recent weeks that the U.S. troop buildup will end in 2008, but Petraeus has not yet recommended a follow-on strategy to Bush. Much depends on judgments about how soon Iraqi security forces will be ready to assume a bigger role, as well as the likelihood of political progress.

Speaking on Monday to a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Kansas City, Mo., Petraeus said Americans should not underestimate the efforts of the Iraqi army and police.

In some areas, partnerships between U.S. forces and Iraqi soldiers are "quite robust," Petraeus said. He noted that Iraqi losses have been three times as high as those suffered by the U.S.-led coalition.

"There should be no question that Iraqi soldiers and police are dying for their country," Petraeus said.

Trial against ex-officials opens in Iraq By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer

Trial against ex-officials opens in Iraq By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer
58 minutes ago



BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein's cousin known as "Chemical Ali" and 14 others faced charges of crimes against humanity for the brutal crushing of a Shiite uprising after the 1991 Gulf War Tuesday as Iraq's third trial against former regime officials began with three of the defendants already sentenced to death in another case.

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The Iraqi High Tribunal said the defendants are charged with engaging in widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population, and the evidence would include testimony from about 90 victims and witnesses.

Saddam's cousin and the former defense minister Ali Hassan al-Majid, who gained the nickname "Chemical Ali" after chemical attacks on Kurdish towns during the so-called Anfal campaign, entered the courtroom wearing his traditional white Arab robe and a red headdress.

The chief judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa told the men they were charged with crimes against humanity, which court officials said carries the maximum penalty of death by hanging.

The charges stem from the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, in which the U.S. drove Saddam's forces from Kuwait.

Shiites in the south and Kurds in the north sought to take advantage of the defeat, launching uprisings and seizing control of 14 of the country's 18 provinces. U.S. troops created a safe haven for the Kurds in three northern provinces, preventing Saddam from attacking. But the late dictator's troops marched into the predominantly Shiite south and crushed the uprising, killing tens of thousands of people.

"The acts committed against the Iraqi people in 1991 by the security forces and by the defendants sitting were among one of the ugliest crimes ever committed against humanity in modern history," the prosecutor Mahdi Abdul-Amir said in opening remarks.

It was the third trial of former regime officials after the Dujail case, in which Saddam and three others were hanged for the 1982 killings of 148 Shiites, and the trial of those accused of killing more than 100,000 Kurds in a 1980s military campaign known as Anfal.

Al-Majid was sentenced to death in the Anfal case but was standing trial in the Shiite uprising case pending his appeal, the court said.

Two others sentenced to death for the Kurdish killings — Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai, the former defense minister who led the Iraqi delegation at the cease-fire talks that ended the 1991 Gulf War, and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, a former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces — also were among the defendants.

Another high-profile defendant — Saddam's trusted personal secretary and bodyguard Abed Hameed Hmoud — referred to President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, when asked about his residence.

"I used to live in a house in Jadiriyah (a neighborhood in southeastern Baghdad) and now it is occupied by Jalal Talabani," Hmoud said, repeating the sentence twice. The judge ignored his remarks.

Officials in Saddam's regime still face trials for their alleged role in other crimes. These crimes include the slaying of members of political and religious parties, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the forced emigration of thousands of Shiite Kurds from northern Iraq into Iran, the execution of 8,000 members of the Kurdish Barzani tribe, and the destruction of the marshes in southern Iraq.

___

Associated Press writer Bushra Juhi contributed to this report.

Official says Utah miners likely buried By CHELSEA J. CARTER and JENNIFER DOBNER, Associated Press Writers

Official says Utah miners likely buried By CHELSEA J. CARTER and JENNIFER DOBNER, Associated Press Writers
2 hours, 22 minutes ago



CASTLE DALE, Utah - Cody Allred closes his eyes and pictures his father and five other miners sitting in the impenetrable darkness of a collapsed mine waiting for a sign, any sign of rescue.

"I picture my dad wondering `Where the hell are they? Any time now,'" he said.

Federal and mine officials are less hopeful. Knowing there has been no sign of life since the men went missing more than two weeks ago, they say the miners may be forever entombed in the mountain.

"I don't know whether the miners will be found, but I'm not optimistic they will be found alive," Bob Murray, chief executive of Murray Energy Corp., co-owner of the mine, said at a news conference Monday night.

Even as the community prepared Tuesday to say goodbye to Dale Black, a rescuer killed while trying to find the men in central Utah's Crandall Canyon mine, the families and officials were at odds over whether enough had been done.

Searchers were expected to finish drilling a fifth hole by Tuesday night, but federal officials didn't anticipate air readings that would indicate enough oxygen to support life.

Richard Stickler, head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, said safety consultants brought in over the weekend have determined the shaking and shifting of the mountain is too risky to let rescuers resume tunneling to try to reach the men, who have been trapped since the Aug. 6 cave-in.

The tunneling stopped after three rescue workers were killed and six were injured when the shaft they were working in collapsed Thursday night.

Murray, who disappeared from public view after that collapse, met Monday with miners' relatives who have accused him of abandoning them and their loved ones.

He said he told the families their relatives would likely remain buried in the mine. "Their reception to me was probably not good. But at some time, the reality must sink in, and I did it as compassionately as I possibly could," he said.

Family members say they have been frustrated by the pace of the rescue effort and by mine and federal safety officials who have backtracked from early information about the missing miners' location.

"We were asking them questions and not getting straight answers," said Cesar Sanchez, whose brother Manuel Sanchez is among the missing.

Families have pleaded for the use of a rescue capsule that could be lowered through a 30-inch hole that could take weeks to drill.

"We need to get that big hole punched to get them big men out," Cesar Sanchez said.

The capsule had been considered a last, best option since the rescue tunnel collapsed. Such capsules have been used to save miners in other disasters, but the men in the Crandall Canyon mine were thought to be more than 1,000 feet deeper than in previous rescues.

Bob Ferriter, a former MSHA engineer who teaches safety at the Colorado School of Mines, said it wouldn't make sense to spend weeks drilling a large hole for a rescue capsule unless searchers knew where the men were located.

Ferriter said it would be foolish to send a man down a capsule to recover the miners' bodies, given the instability of the mountain and the depth of the hole. There's a chance the capsule could get stuck or that a mountain "bump" could bury the capsule. The air might be inadequate as well, Ferriter said.

"I don't see the advantage of putting a live person down there," Ferriter said. "You could have a bump that closes the hole above him, and then you've lost another guy."

But Steve Allred, the brother of trapped miner Kerry Allred, believes his brother is alive and said the men need to be recovered.

"My brother is trapped underground and I'm hearing that they're basically giving up, and that's unacceptable," he said. "One way or the other we've got to have closure."

For nearly two weeks, mine owners and federal officials had insisted the men might be alive. But repeated efforts to signal the miners have been met with silence, and air readings from a fourth narrow hole drilled more than 1,500 feet into the mountainside showed insufficient oxygen to support life in that part of the mine.

On Monday night, Murray defended MSHA and himself from criticism that they botched the rescue effort and needlessly put rescue workers at risk.

"There was absolutely nothing more that MSHA or Murray Energy or (mine co-owner) Utah American could have done to rescue these trapped miners," he said. "And based on what we knew at the time, we did everything correctly. There were no mistakes."

The missing miners' families called the dead and injured who worked to find their loved ones their "heroes."

"We didn't want to get nobody killed; we still don't want to get nobody hurt," Sanchez said. "I work with those men, and I know they were digging. If they would have had to dig with their hands, they would have done it, because they wanted them other six men out alive."

___

Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko in Price and Mike Rubinkam in Huntington contributed to this report.

U.S. foreclosures rise sharply in July By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

U.S. foreclosures rise sharply in July By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer
36 minutes ago



LOS ANGELES - Foreclosure filings rose 9 percent from June to July and surged 93 percent over the same period last year, with Nevada, Georgia and Michigan accounting for the highest foreclosure rates nationwide, a research firm said Tuesday.

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The filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. The figures are the latest measure of the ailing housing market, which has seen defaults and foreclosures soar as financially strapped borrowers have failed to make payments or find buyers.

In all, 179,599 foreclosure filings were reported during July, up from 92,845 in the year-ago month, according to Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc.

A total of 164,644 foreclosure filings were reported in June.

The national foreclosure rate in July was one filing for every 693 households, the firm said.

"While 43 states experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity, just five states — California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Georgia — accounted for more than half of the nation's total foreclosure filings," said RealtyTrac Chief Executive James J. Saccacio.

Nevada posted the highest foreclosure rate: one filing for every 199 households, or more than three times the national average. It reported 5,116 filings during the month, an increase of 8 percent from June.

Georgia's foreclosure rate was more than twice the national average, with one filing for every 299 households. The state reported 12,602 foreclosure filings, up 75 percent from June.

Michigan reported 13,979 filings in July, a 39 percent spike from June.

California, Florida, and Ohio were among the states with the highest number of foreclosure filings in July, the firm said.

California cities continued to dominate top metropolitan foreclosure rates.

The state reported 39,013 foreclosure filings last month, the most by any single state, but the number of filings rose less than 1 percent from June's total.

The state's foreclosure rate was one filing for every 333 households, RealtyTrac said.

Florida's foreclosure filings fell 9 percent between June and July to 19,179. The July figure represents a 78 percent jump from a year ago.

RealtyTrac did not say if a single property received more than one notice. The company did not break out the exact property count.

In recent months, the mortgage industry has been battered by rising defaults and foreclosures, primarily driven by borrowers with subprime loans and adjustable rate mortgages.

Lagging home sales and flat or decreasing home prices have made it more difficult for homeowners who fall behind on payments to sell their homes and clear the debt, spurring the rise in foreclosure activity.

Endeavour prepares for midday landing By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON, Associated Press Writer

Endeavour prepares for midday landing By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON, Associated Press Writer
39 minutes ago



HOUSTON - With their work in orbit completed, the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour prepared to land a day early Tuesday because of the threat NASA had once feared Hurricane Dean would pose to Mission Control.

The weather outlook in Cape Canaveral, Fla., was fairly good, although forecasters were keeping an eye on the crosswind.

Endeavour's first landing path would take the crew over the Pacific Ocean, Central America and Cuba before touching down at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

If bad weather forces NASA to scrub that landing attempt, the shuttle's second opportunity would include flying over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, which was battered Tuesday morning by Hurricane Dean. If the shuttle crosses above the hurricane, it will be too high to feel its effects, NASA said.

Endeavour's seven crew members woke early Tuesday to Simon and Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound," a tribute from all of their families.

"That's very nice of them to think of that," commander Scott Kelly told Mission Control. "Although it's been a short two weeks, we've accomplished a lot and we still look very much forward to coming home today."

Endeavour's two-week mission wasn't supposed to end until Wednesday, but over the weekend mission managers decided to cut its space station visit short. At the time, it was uncertain whether Hurricane Dean might threaten Houston, home to Mission Control.

The forecast Monday afternoon had Houston out of harm's way. But with the shuttle astronauts already packed up, NASA held to a Tuesday landing.

NASA cleared Endeavour for landing after engineers finished evaluating the latest laser images of the shuttle's wings and nose and concluded there were no holes or cracks from micrometeorites or space junk.

The astronauts inspected the especially vulnerable areas Sunday, after undocking from the international space station.

NASA reiterated Monday that the unrepaired gouge in Endeavour's belly posed no danger to the shuttle or its crew. A week of thermal analyses and tests also indicated that no lengthy postflight repairs should be required, said flight director Steve Stich.

Stich noted, however, that re-entering the Earth's atmosphere is always risky.

A piece of foam insulation or ice from a bracket on the external fuel tank broke off at liftoff Aug. 8. It fell onto a strut lower on the tank, then bounced into Endeavour and gashed it.

Brackets have shed debris in previous launches, but it wasn't until Endeavour's flight that such debris caused noticeable damage.

NASA does not plan to launch another space shuttle until the problem is solved.

During the mission, the astronauts delivered 5,000 pounds of cargo to the space station, attached a new truss segment to the outpost and replaced a gyroscope which helps control the station's orientation.

The crew completed four spacewalks, two of which were cut short. One was halted after a spacewalking astronaut noticed a cut in his glove. The other was abbreviated to give the crew enough time to prepare for an early departure from the space station.

Teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan spent time answering questions from students in Idaho, Virginia and Canada. Morgan, who was Christa McAuliffe's backup for the doomed Challenger flight in 1986, is the first teacher to train as a full-fledged astronaut.

The rest of the crew includes pilot Charles Hobaugh and mission specialists Alvin Drew, Tracy Caldwell, Dave Williams and Rick Mastracchio.

___

AP Aerospace Writer Marcia Dunn contributed to this report from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

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On the Net:

NASA: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov

Bush wants closer ties with Canada, Mexico By Caren Bohan

Bush wants closer ties with Canada, Mexico By Caren Bohan
44 minutes ago



OTTAWA (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will try to assure leaders of Canada and Mexico on Tuesday that the United States wants to build closer ties with them, despite the distraction of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the Quebec summit between Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon risked being overshadowed by a monster hurricane threatening to wreak havoc on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.

Not long after he arrived in Montebello, Quebec, for what has been dubbed the "Three Amigos summit," Calderon announced he was cutting his trip short to deal with a potential catastrophe from Hurricane Dean.

Dean killed at least 11 people as it blasted through the Caribbean islands. It strengthened into a monster Category 5 -- the strongest type of hurricane -- and was to reach Mexico's coast early on Tuesday.

Bush told Calderon the United States was willing to help after the storm. "We want to be in a position to help them as appropriate and as best we can should Dean hit any part of Mexico," said Dan Fisk, a White House specialist in Western hemisphere affairs.

Calderon canceled plans for a meeting with Harper as well as a business lunch in Toronto. The leaders were still due to hold a news conference around midday.

The summit at the chateau by the Ottawa River got under way amid demonstrations by protesters who shouted for Bush to go home and objected to the aim of boosting trade and working on a common approach against terrorism.

Critics expressed concern that broadening economic ties would erode national sovereignty and that closer cooperation on anti-terrorism could lead to human rights abuses.

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But both Harper and Calderon are interested in furthering the trade relationship, although neither wants to appear too close to Bush, who is unpopular in both of their countries.

Bush came into office in 2001 pledging to focus on strengthening ties with Mexico but critics say he has neglected the concerns of his North American neighbors in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

Mexico is frustrated by increasingly tough U.S. border policies and by the collapse in Congress of a push to overhaul U.S. immigration laws.

Canada is irked that anti-terrorism measures have hampered the flow of goods and services across the border.

Harper discussed Canada's concerns about Russia's symbolic laying of claim to the North Pole, where it placed a flag on the seabed. Canada claims it has sovereignty over the Northwest Passage of the Arctic, but the United States views it as an international strait.

"I think it's fair to say the president came away with a far better understanding of Canada's position," Fisk said. "However, I will note that from the U.S. position we continue to believe that the Northwest Passage is an international waterway, that there is international navigational rights through the Northwest Passage," he said.

"It's a very safe issue for Harper to bring up because it allows him to sound a nationalist theme," said Stephen Clarkson, a professor of international economy at the University of Toronto.

"It also allows him to have a little bit of disagreement with the United States," said Clarkson, noting that opposition politicians have accused Harper of being a Bush protege.