USA

The shuttle Discovery, which blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday with seven crew members aboard, is scheduled to reach the international space station Monday. There it will unload a 37-foot-long, lab section made in Japan. The first part was delivered in March, and the final section will be sent up next year.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama moved Saturday to distance himself from racially charged remarks delivered by his former pastor and a guest pastor at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ by terminating his membership after 20 years. He said his candidacy meant that such remarks will be imputed to him even if they totally conflict with his views and principles.

Los Angeles firefighters said they had a massive fire contained Sunday at Universal Studios even though it continued to rage after burning one building and destroying blocks of movie sets. No injuries were reported.

Building department officials in New York met Saturday to address mounting safety concerns after the second deadly crane collapse in recent months. A crane that fell Friday killed two workers, while one in March killed seven people. The city has halted the erection of new cranes and adding extensions to 250 existing ones.

Sameer Mishra won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington on his fourth try. The West Lafayette, Ind., 13-year-old took home the winner's trophy by spelling "guerdon."

The Federal Emergency Manage-ment Agency endeavored to close the last six Louisiana trailer parks Sunday that have housed people displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita since 2005. Several more days may be needed to move everyone into apartments or motels from trailers found to have high levels of formaldehyde.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt assumed the title of "world's fastest man" Saturday in New York by setting a world 100-meter record at the Reebok Grand Prix meet. His time of 9.72 seconds was .02 seconds faster than the old mark held by Jamaican Asafa Powell.

Manny Ramirez reached a coveted slugging milestone by hitting his 500th career home run to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Orioles in Baltimore Saturday night, 6-3.

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