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AP - Even for a nonconformist, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has defied political logic with her sudden, stunning announcement to leave office more than a year early.

AP - North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles off its eastern coast Saturday, South Korea said, a violation of U.N. resolutions and an apparent message of defiance to the United States on its Independence Day.

AP - Vice President Joe Biden celebrated the Fourth of July with his son and other American troops in Iraq on Saturday, a day after warning Iraqi leaders that U.S. assistance will be jeopardized if the country reverts to ethnic and sectarian violence.

AP - Serena Williams beat her sister Venus 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Saturday for her third Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam championship.

AP - Questions about Michael Jackson's use of prescription drugs are intensifying after a powerful sedative was found inside his home.

AP - Determined to change the way the world views the United States, Barack Obama is onto his next foreign mission: rebuilding relations with Russia, proving to global leaders that America is serious about climate change, and outlining his vision for Africa, his father's birthplace.

AP - Taliban militants fired rockets and mortars at a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing two American troops and wounding several more in a two-hour battle, officials said.

AP - The first visitors allowed into the Statue of Liberty's crown in nearly eight years began the arduous climb Saturday on an Independence Day journey laden with symbolism of freedom and national pride.

AP - A top aide to Iran's supreme leader called the country's main opposition figure a U.S. agent and said in an editorial Saturday that he should be tried for committing crimes against the nation.

AP - Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong has taken the early lead in the first-stage individual time trial of the Tour de France.

Reuters - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met U.S. troops preparing to mark their Independence Day holiday on Saturday, on the third day of a visit he has used to urge Iraqi politicians to do more to reconcile rival factions.

Reuters - North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles on Saturday, South Korea's defense ministry said, in an act of defiance toward the United States that further stoked regional tensions already high due to its nuclear test in May.

Reuters - Sarah Palin, the brash, deeply conservative governor of Alaska who crashed onto the U.S. national political scene last year as the Republican candidate for U.S. vice president, announced abruptly on Friday she was resigning as governor.

Reuters - A newspaper editor seen as close to Iran's top authority said on Saturday defeated election candidate Mirhossein Mousavi and a former pro-reform president had committed "terrible crimes" which should be tried in court.

Reuters - The Organization of American States prepared to suspend Honduras on Saturday after a caretaker government refused to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya and defiantly renounced the OAS charter in an apparent preemptive move.

Reuters - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon publicly rebuked Myanmar's generals on Saturday for denying him a visit to detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and said she should take part in politics before 2010 elections.

AFP - North Korea test-fired seven missiles off its east coast on Saturday, South Korean officials said, in an act of defiance apparently timed for the US Independence Day holiday.

AFP - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday that he was "deeply disappointed" after the reclusive head of Myanmar's military junta refused to let him meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.