AP Top Headlines At 2:28 p.m. EDT

Soldier held in Afghanistan is 23-year-old Idahoan

By JOHN MILLER — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:31:03 GMT

HAILEY, Idaho (AP) -- A soldier from Idaho who disappeared from his base in Afghanistan has been captured, the Pentagon confirmed Sunday, a day after he was seen in a Taliban video posted online....

Officials: Health care proposal a work in progress

By PHILIP ELLIOTT — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:06:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Administration officials defended President Barack Obama's broad health care proposals on Sunday and urged a skeptical public not to judge the Democrats' overhaul until Congress writes a final version....

Iran's Ahmadinejad criticized over VP choice

By NASSER KARIMI — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:06:28 GMT

TEHRAN,Iran (AP) -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, already at the center of a post-election crisis, came under criticism from his own hard-line supporters Sunday for appointing a first vice president who once caused an outcry by saying Iranians were friends of Israelis....

Cink takes 4-shot lead in playoff with Watson

By PAUL NEWBERRY — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:28:23 GMT

TURNBERRY, Scotland (AP) -- Stewart Cink has a commanding four-stroke lead with one hole left in his British Open playoff with 59-year-old Tom Watson, who squandered a chance for a historic victory in regulation....

Helicopter crash at Afghan base kills 16

By JASON STRAZIUSO — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:05:50 GMT

KABUL (AP) -- A Russian-owned civilian helicopter crashed and burst into flames shortly after takeoff at southern Afghanistan's largest NATO base Sunday, killing 16 civilians in the latest in a string of deadly aircraft crashes in the country....

Palin: Alaska tour is thanks, not goodbye

By MATTHEW DALY — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:22:26 GMT

UNALAKLEET, Alaska (AP) -- She was greeted like a rock star in Unalakleet, a fishing village on the Bering Sea. She danced with Eskimos in Kotzebue. And she watched grizzlies at a wildlife sanctuary on the Kenai Peninsula. In all, Sarah Palin has been on eight trips outside her Anchorage base since announcing her resignation two weeks ago. Is this a farewell tour, the start of a possible presidential campaign for 2012?...

Slain couple's daughter to care for 13 children

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:21:57 GMT

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) -- The adult daughter of a slain Florida couple known for adopting 13 special needs children said she is planning to move into her parents' home and raise the children as her own. Ashley Markham, 26, told the Pensacola News Journal in Sunday's editions that she and her husband intend to care for the children, saying it was her mother's wish....

Hearings fail to sway Sessions to Sotomayor's side

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:05:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top Republican on the Senate committee reviewing Sonia Sotomayor's nomination said Sunday her testimony did not settle his concerns about elevating her to the Supreme Court. "I was troubled by a number of the things the nominee has said, a number of the rulings she has made," said Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions....

Russia still blue over moon landing 40 years later

By JIM HEINTZ — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:01:48 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) -- When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon, it was a first for the Soviet Union - the first time the U.S. had beaten the U.S.S.R in the space race. Forty years later, the memory of that loss of primacy still seems to sting the Russian soul. When state TV channel Rossiya reported last week on the restoration of video footage of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the account gave a lot of attention to dubious conspiracy theories that the landing was faked....

Lost British backpacker says he was 'total idiot'

By TANALEE SMITH — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:04:32 GMT

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) -- A British teenager who was found dehydrated and freezing after 12 wintry days lost in Australia's wilderness said he wrote farewell notes to his family and expected to die of starvation....