Worried Banks Sharply Reduce Business Loans  —  Banks struggling to recover from multibillion-dollar losses on real estate are curtailing loans to American businesses, depriving even healthy companies of money for expansion and hiring.  —  Two vital forms of credit used by companies …

Petraeus won't join bandwagon for Iraq withdrawal timetable  —  BAGHDAD — The top U.S. military commander in Iraq isn't buying the increasingly popular idea of a publicly stated timetable for American troop withdrawal.  —  Gen. David Petraeus, the Iraq commander, said in an interview …

McCain Reverses Himself on Affirmative Action  —  ABC News' Teddy Davis and Kevin Kilbane Report: During a “This Week” interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos John McCain reversed himself on affirmative action and endorsed for the first time a proposed state ballot measure which would end race …

Gallup Daily: Obama 49%, McCain 40%  —  Third day with Obama holding a significant lead over McCain  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama now leads John McCain among national registered voters by a 49% to 40% margin in Gallup Poll Daily tracking conducted July 24-26.

New battles erupt over gun laws  —  From airports to Disney World, the fight to limit firearms continues in the courts  —  ATLANTA—Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a ban on handguns, gun opponents are fighting to preserve or expand gun-free zones …

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)  —  MR. TOM BROKAW: And we are here with Senator Obama late Saturday afternoon in London, the last stop of his nine-day overseas trip.  —  You head back to the United States in a few hours.  For purposes of this program, we'll say good morning.

Speaking In Code  —  I haven't finished Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals yet, but so far it's the probably the creepiest book I've read yet about the Torture Regime.  (Philippe Sands' book Torture Team …

Rights Issue Looms as Bush Heads to China  —  Diplomacy During Games Is Subject Of Intense Debate  —  With President Bush set to leave next week for the Olympics in Beijing, the White House is coming under increased pressure from lawmakers and advocacy groups to make a public statement …

Obama visits hospital for sore hip  —  All that basketball seems to be taking at least a slight toll on Sen. Barack Obama's nearly 47-year-old body.  —  Late Sunday, he visited the University of Chicago Medical Center to have a sore hip checked by an orthopedic doctor.

Democracy Institute Gives Donors Access to McCain  —  As Senator John McCain waited to speak at the annual awards dinner of the International Republican Institute, a democracy-building group he has led for 15 years, lobbyists and business executives dominated the stage at a Washington hotel ballroom.

Listening to the Dalai Lama in Aspen  —  ASPEN — My late husband, Hunter S. Thompson, said that he was a teenage girl trapped in the body of an elderly dope fiend.  I realized something as I watched the highest ranking monk of Tibetan Buddhism: His Holiness is a teenage girl trapped in the body of a Dalai Lama!

Barack Obama's brother pushes Chinese imports on US  —  BARACK Obama's half-brother has been helping to promote cheap Chinese exports in a low-profile business career while the Democratic senator has been winning worldwide fame in his race for the White House.

Second church shooting victim dead  —  This is a developing story.  Click “refresh” on your Web browser for the latest updates.  —  10:30 pmA neighbor told 10News Adkisson described himself as a “Confederate” and a “believer in the old South.”  She says Adkisson self-identified …

In study, evidence of liberal-bias bias  —  Cable talking heads accuse broadcast networks of liberal bias — but a think tank finds that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Barack Obama than on John McCain in recent weeks.  —  Haters of the mainstream media reheated a bit of conventional wisdom last week.