USA
Wildfires burned in as many as seven Western states Saturday as a heat wave in the region created dangerously dry conditions from Washington to Arizona. More than a dozen scattered blazes charred 55 square miles in northern Nevada, and throughout the West authorities ordered threatened homes evacuated and some highways closed.
A secret US raid aimed at capturing senior Al Qaeda leaders in tribal areas of Pakistan in 2005 was considered too risky and was aborted at the last minute, The New York Times reported Sunday. Donald Rumsfeld, who was then Defense Secretary, called off the operation with special forces already airborne because of concerns that it had grown too large and put too many American lives at risk. Intelligence reports indicated that Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's top deputy, might be at a meeting in the area.
President Bush targeted delays on Democrat-controlled Capitol Hill in passing 12 annual spending bill during his weekly Saturday radio address. He accused Democrats of "failing to make tough decisions and spend the people's money wisely."
More than 24,000 Pennsylvania health and safety workers holding nonessential jobs could be furloughed Monday by Gov. Ed Rendell (D) if a state budgeting dispute is not resolved. Rendell said he expected to make a decision Sunday afternoon (after Monitor deadlines) about a partial government shutdown.
American Venus Williams (above) won her fourth Wimbledon tennis title Saturday, defeating surprise finalist Marion Bartoli, 6-4, 6-1. Earlier in the year, Williams's younger sister, Serena, won the Australian Open. Between them, the siblings have secured six of the last eight Wimbledon crowns.
Struggling auto parts maker Delphi Corp. expects the number of union workers it employs to shrink to roughly 2,300 by 2012, according to a bankruptcy filing. About 24,000 members of the United Auto Workers were on the payroll in 2005.
A California businessman claimed that 243 of his goats died needlessly when police in San Rafael, north of San Francisco, wouldn't release them from an overturned livestock trailer. The goats, rented to eat brush that poses fire hazards, suffocated when the trailer flipped during a sharp turn. Police were concerned that freeing the animals might cause further accidents.
