San Francisco Chronicle

As the losses piled up and titles escaped him, Roger Federer insisted he felt fine, he wasn't washed up and his game would come around. Oh, did Federer look good against Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open semifinals. Buoyed by a stellar start and a fantastic...

Alex Smith lost his starting job as quarterback of the 49ers, and now he's unlikely to be available in Sunday's season opener because of soreness to his throwing shoulder. During Friday's practice, Smith sustained what coach Mike Nolan described Saturday as "...

Except for a lone redwood holding four tree-sitters, UC Berkeley today finished cutting down the long-embattled Memorial Stadium trees that protesters had been fighting to preserve for 21 months. Arborists removed 42 oaks, redwoods, laurels, and other trees...

Now is not the right time for the U.S. to move forward on a once-celebrated deal for civilian nuclear cooperation with Russia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday. Her comment increased speculation that President Bush is planning to punish...

The historic takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which could come as soon as this weekend, moved to the forefront of the presidential campaign Saturday as candidates and congressional leaders seized on the enormous implications for taxpayers and the...

The historic takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which could come as soon as this weekend, moved to the forefront of the presidential campaign Saturday as candidates and congressional leaders seized on the enormous implications for taxpayers and the...

Barack Obama made his first direct criticism of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Saturday, saying she pretends to oppose spending earmarks when she actually has embraced them. Speaking to 800 people at the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds in Terre...

FRESNO STATE_Named Chris Baptista and Lisa Misipeka assistant track and field...

Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama said Saturday they will put aside partisan politics for a joint appearance at Ground Zero to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, in a statement, said...

Two children and an adult relative were injured in Santa Rosa Friday evening when they were hit by a minivan in a crosswalk. Josefa Lopez, an 18-year-old Santa Rosa resident, her eight-year-old brother, and her two-year-old daughter were crossing the street...

Tropical Storm Hanna accelerated toward New England on Saturday after the storm's whipping winds and rain didn't linger long enough over the Southeast to cause much more than some isolated flooding and power outages. Hanna moved quickly inland after cruising...

Benazir Bhutto's widower swept Pakistan's presidential election on Saturday, offering hope for stability to a nuclear-armed country feeling intense U.S. pressure to crack down on Islamic militants. In a grim reminder of the problems awaiting Asif Ali Zardari,...

Minn. - The 2008 Republican National Convention had too much in common with the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. That's where presidential candidate John Kerry talked endlessly about his military service - to the point where people would joke, "...

An allegedly intoxicated teen motorist smashed into a police car during a chase and one of the two officers in the cruiser was killed, authorities said Saturday. The second officer was hospitalized in stable condition. The officers had joined the pursuit of...

Physically, Deron Dickerson was a 38-year-old man. Mentally, he was a toddler who needed constant supervision. Left alone in a bathtub, Dickerson drowned three years ago in Kentucky's largest institution for mentally disabled adults. In the years since,...

A pickup truck packed with explosives blew up a police security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan Saturday, killing at least 30 people and injuring dozens more, the day after a foiled militant kidnap attempt led to another 24 deaths in the volatile region....

Authorities in Pennsylvania say a fourth teenager has been charged in the fatal beating of a Mexican immigrant. Schuylkill County prosecutors charged the teen in juvenile court Friday with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other offenses. His name...

Authorities in New Jersey say a bomb scare involving a package on a freight train appears to have been a hoax. Police in the town of North Bergen say dozens of officers searched through more than 1,000 packages taken from the freight train and finally found...

Boeing Co. machinists walked out on strike Saturday after contract talks arbitrated by a federal mediator failed to produce an agreement. About 100 union members hoisted their strike signs at 12:01 a.m. outside the Boeing plant in this city north of Seattle,...

John McCain's presidential campaign did not speak with the Alaska House speaker and other leading Republicans before McCain tapped Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. The low-profile vetting allowed McCain to spring Palin onto the national scene uncolored...