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AP Top News at 1:37 p.m. EDT
Jesse Helms, former conservative Republican N.C. senator, dies at 86
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during 30 conservative years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July. He was 86. "It's just incredible that he would die on July 4, the same day of the Declaration of Independence and the same day that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died, and he certainly is a patriot in the mold of those great men," said former North Carolina GOP Rep. Bill Cobey, the chairman of The Jesse Helms Center at Wingate University.
Ingrid Betancourt arrives in France to a hero's welcome after 6 years in captivity in Colombia
PARIS (AP) - "I cry with joy," Ingrid Betancourt said. And she did. After six years as a hostage in the Colombian jungle, the former Colombian presidential candidate and French citizen flew back to her beloved France to be embraced Friday as an icon by the country that raised her. A hero's welcome - led by President Nicolas Sarkozy - greeted Betancourt from the moment she descended from the plane at the Villacoublay air base southwest of Paris. A dual French-Colombian citizen, Betancourt was campaigning for Colombia's presidency when she was kidnapped in 2002.
President Bush salutes new citizens at Jefferson's home on 4th of July
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - President Bush invoked the memory of Thomas Jefferson Friday in welcoming new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony at Monticello, saying "I'll be proud to call you a fellow American." On his final Fourth of July as president, Bush told an audience at the home of the Declaration of Independence's author that he was honored to be present for the naturalization.
Obama and family spend 4th of July in Montana, also celebrates daughter's 10th birthday
BUTTE, Mont. (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama celebrated the Fourth of July with his family in Montana. Cheers greeted Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters as they arrived to watch the town parade. The crowd also broke into song, singing a rendition of "Happy Birthday" for Obama's oldest daughter, Malia, who turned 10 on Friday.
Firefighters replace visitors in Big Sur, Calif., this July 4th; volunteer firefighter dies
BIG SUR, Calif. (AP) - Independence Day is normally a booming time for tourism at Big Sur, with visitors settling into cliffside vacation homes or trekking out to campgrounds nestled among the redwoods. But this year, the only out-of-towners in Big Sur are firefighters working around the clock to save the storied community from flames. A ferocious wildfire burning through the Los Padres National Forest continued creeping closer to town Friday, after jumping a fire line and claiming several more homes this week. Locals who feared for their homes and businesses also had to worry about lost revenue during peak season.
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