Events

China: Quake left 18,000 buried
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24589987/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080513/080513-china-quake-hmed-115a.thumb.jpg" alt="Chinese rescuers search a collapsed building for survivors in Beichuan, southwest China's Sichuan province on May 13, 2008, after an earthquake measuring 7.8 rocked the province. China's biggest earthquake for a generation left tens of thousands dead, missing or buried under the rubble of crushed communities, plunging the nation into an all-out aid effort. AFP PHOTO/XINHUA (Photo credit should read AFP/AFP/Getty Images)" style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>The toll of the dead and missing soared as rescue workers dug through flattened schools and homes on Tuesday in a desperate attempt to find survivors of China's worst earthquake in three decades. 

Racist remarks alarm Obama backers
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24588813/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/080512/n_wh_redstateblue_080512.thumb.jpg" alt="May 12: A Race for the White House panel debates: Where can Sen. Barack Obama turn a red state blue? (Other)" style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>The contrast between the adoring crowds Barack Obama draws at public events and the racism his foot soldiers encounter out of the spotlight is stark. 

Blasts kill at least 60 in India
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24596955/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080513/080513-bomb-india-hmed-10a.thumb.jpg" alt="Indian people look at the one of the sites of a series of bomb blasts which tore through crowded markets in the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur on May 13, 2008. A series of seven bombs tore through crowded markets in the Indian tourist city of Jaipur late May 13, killing at least 60 people and wounding 150 in what police said was a terror attack. (Photo credit should read STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)" style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>At least six bombs exploded in the western Indian city of Jaipur on Tuesday evening, most within a few minutes of each other, killing at least 60 people, police, officials and witnesses said. 

Fla. blazes damage dozens of homes
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24582353/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080513/080513-wildfires-hlrg-6a.thumb.jpg" alt="A resident wets down a roof Monday afternoon May 12, 2008 as brush fires surround homes in Malabar, Fla. Dry, windy weather fueled several wildfires on Florida's central Atlantic coast Monday, destroying homes and driving hundreds of residents away as the governor declared a state of emergency. (AP Photo/Florida Today, Craig Rubadoux) **MANDATORY CREDIT: FLORIDATODAY.COM, NO SALES, MAGS OUT **" style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>Relentless wildfires burned Tuesday across Florida’s Atlantic coast, taxing firefighters and overwhelming residents trying to save their homes with garden hoses. 

Golfer Sorenstam to retire
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24597454/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/NBCSports/Sections/Personal/Fiss, Stirling/Images/Annika Sorenstam/080428_AnnikaSorenstam_h.thumb.jpg" alt="Take a look at some highlights from Annika Sorenstam's LPGA career." style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>Annika Sorenstam will retire after the season, ending an LPGA Tour career in which she has won 72 tournaments to date and delivered a defining moment when she teed it up against the men on the PGA Tour. 

Clinton set for a W.Va. win; Obama looks ahead
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24591571/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/080512/nn_mitchell_politics_080512.thumb.jpg" alt="May 12: Having overtaken Hillary Clinton in what was once her formidable superdelegate lead, Barack Obama turned his attention to defeating John McCain in the general election states. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports. (Nightly News)" style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>Polls are open in West Virginia and election officials say things are off to a smooth start. 

Pop artist Robert Rauschenberg dies
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24596837/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/ap/fc8995ea-1553-431c-8dbc-5a7c77dc0fe0.thumb.jpg" alt="In this Friday, May 19, 2006 photo, artist Robert Rauschenberg smiles during the opening night gala of "Robert Rauschenberg: Combines" at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Los Angeles. A gallery representative for Robert Rauschenberg says the pop artist has died in Florida at 82. " style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>Robert Rauschenberg, whose use of odd and everyday articles earned him a reputation as a pioneer in pop art but whose talents spanned the worlds of painting, sculpture and dance, has died, his gallery representative said Tuesday. He was 82. 

China suspends quake zone firms
Chinese shares fell Tuesday and the country's two stock exchanges suspended trading in 66 companies based in the region hit by a major earthquake in an effort to minimize potential disruptions to financial markets.

Study: Hands-free phones are lifesavers
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24580099/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080512/080512-cellphone-hmed-9a.thumb.jpg" alt="SAN CLEMENTE, CA - JUNE 2: Catherine Singer dials a cell phone in her car as a truck approaches June 2, 2003 in San Clemente, California. Legislation that would require California motorists to use hands-free devices for cell phones beginning January 1, 2005 cleared a major hurdle when it passed the Assembly May 29. The bill is expected to pass the Senate, but Gov. Gray Davis has not yet taken a position on the measure. California would join New York as the only states with an outright ban on drivers using cell phones without hands-free devices, though at least six other states have some limit on use of phones in vehicles. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)" style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>A new study has led a California researcher to boldly assert that banning hand-held phone use by U.S. drivers could save thousands of lives each year. 

Cyclone-hit Myanmar accepts more U.S. aid
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24590824/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080513/080513-myanmar-aid-hmed-3a.thumb.jpg" alt="In this photo released by the U.S. Marine Corps, soldiers from Myanmar unload water from a U.S. Air Force C-130 Monday, May 12, 2008, at Yangon airport. The plane was carrying the first U.S. aid to be delivered to Myanmar following cyclone Nargis, which struck on May 2, 2008. (AP Photo/HO, US Marine Corps, Sgt Andres Alcaraz)" style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>European Union nations urged Myanmar's military leaders Tuesday to let in international aid to cyclone victims, saying that failure to do so could amount to a crime against humanity. 

Colombia extradites militia bosses to U.S.
Colombia extradited 14 paramilitary warlords to the United States on Tuesday on charges related to drug trafficking, saying they violated the peace pact under which they demobilized.

Bush returns to Mideast with tempered hopes
As President Bush prepares to leave Tuesday for a Mideast trip, his second in four months, he is trading his usual upbeat tone on Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking for something a bit more reserved.

Hewlett-Packard to buy EDS
Hewlett-Packard Co. is buying Electronic Data Systems Corp. for $13.2 billion in a deal that will create the second-largest technology services provider behind IBM.

High gas prices spawn songs, symbolic acts
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24592721/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/ap/051c1233-d250-4d5d-8802-1333947e5b3b.thumb.jpg" alt="Allan Peerce and his horse Hitman make their way through the town's traffic to do his banking in Leitchfield, Ky., Monday, May 12, 2008. Peerce rides Hitman, adorned with signs of protest, to bring attention to the high cost of fuel. " style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>Americans facing rising gasoline and diesel prices are cycling about, saddling up, singing out and, sometimes, resorting to violent symbolism. 

Tidbits: Brangelina's kids get a glimpse of siblings-to-be
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24585883/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss_050615_jolie/ss_080103_jolieupdate_mwtease.thumb.jpg" alt="Actress Angelina Jolie talks to her son Maddox at a news conference in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, Monday, Dec. 3, 2007. Jolie was attending the news conference where actor Brad Pitt announced his latest project to build affordable, environmentally friendly homes in the area devastated by Hurricane Katrina. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)" style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>Angelina scheduled a sonogram over the weekend, and Brad brought 7-year-old Maddox and 4-year-old Pax for a virtual meet-and-greet with their upcoming siblings. 

Man fined for buckling in beer, not toddler
An Australian man has been fined after buckling in a case of beer with a seat belt but leaving a 5-year-old child to sit on the car’s floor, police said Tuesday.

China's panda preserve reported safe
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24595436/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080513/080513-panda-hmed-7a.thumb.jpg" alt="(FILES) This file picture taken on February 9, 2007 shows pandas at the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda in Wolong, in China's southwestern province of Sichuan. More than 80 giant pandas at China's most famous panda park, the Wolong centre, were safe and well following a huge earthquake that struck the area, state press said on May 13, 2008. AFP PHOTO / FILES / LIU Jin (Photo credit should read LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images)" style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>All the pandas at the world’s most famous panda preserve were reported safe Tuesday, more than a day after China’s worst earthquake. 

Mexico blames cartel for police chief murder
A police officer and four other people with suspected ties to a powerful drug cartel have been arrested in the assassination of Mexico’s acting federal police chief, authorities said Monday.

Remodeling business follows housing lower
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24526395/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/ArtAndPhoto-Fronts/BUSINESS/080508/g-080508-biz-remodeling-1p.thumb.jpg" alt="" style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>The downturn in the housing market has dragged the remodeling sector with it. For many contractors, that means a sudden struggle to stay busy. 

‘In the Heights’ heads list of Tony nominees
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24594561/"><img align="left" border="0" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/ap/dcbb34e1-cd54-4d95-a4da-77e8621a2eed.thumb.jpg" alt="In this file image released by Philip Rinaldi Publicity, Paulo Szot, left, and Kelli O'Hara are shown in the Lincoln Center Theater production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's, "South Pacific." " style="margin:0 5px 5px 0" /></a>“In the Heights,” a lively snapshot of Latino life in Upper Manhattan, received 13 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, more than any other show.