NASHVILLE — Jeff Fisher thinks his young Tennessee Titans are ready for the regular season, and he has his reasons. He’s seen improved sack production from the defensive line, impressive improvement from the three drafted receivers and five rookies among the top six pass catchers in the preseason. So what if the Titans went only…

FAYETTEVILLE — The Pioneer football team came inches from what would have been a historic win Friday night. Taking on the three-time state champions from Lincoln County, the Pioneers (2-1) had their undefeated early season streak snapped, falling in overtime by a 20-13 final. Nick Cantrell hauled in a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Josh…

VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Iran has pumped out about seven tons of the gas it needs for uranium enrichment since it restarted the process last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported Friday. A former U.N. nuclear inspector said that would be enough for an atomic weapon. In unusually strong language, an IAEA report also…

WASHINGTON (AP) — After fleeing in the face of Hurricane Katrina, ocean researchers have returned to the Gulf Mexico where they are getting a revealing new look at the deep sea. “We are exploring the deep sea with new eyes,” oceanographer Tamara Frank of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution said Friday. Frank and others aboard…

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A record 415 people have died trying to cross the border illegally from Mexico in the past 11 months, surpassing the previous high of 383 recorded in fiscal year 2000, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Washington said Friday. Record numbers of deaths are being recorded in both…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people are finding themselves out of work and their livelihoods in limbo following the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. Experts believe it will take months before people get back to work in hurricane-ravaged areas. Some workers may not have jobs to return to and others may opt to move…

FARMINGTON, Conn. (AP) — In a room filled with nurses, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, veterans, retirees and recent graduates, Jason Timber has a compelling reason for wanting to volunteer with the Red Cross to help hurricane victims. His 5-year-old daughter, Destiny, may be one of them. Since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, Timber has…

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Roberto Alvarez was jealous of the amount of time his girlfriend spent with the head of a crime family that dealt in millions of dollars of contraband, so he became a confidential informant for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Not long after talking with the agents, the 38-year-old Alvarez was…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union on Friday alleged Georgia circumvented a federal law by hiking the fee for a controversial new voter identification card without getting permission from the U.S. Justice Department. The governor’s office insisted it notified the department of the change and will waive all fees for poor residents. Laughlin…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush, seeking to stem criticism that a slow federal response has contributed to needless misery, promised stunned and suffering residents up and down the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast that he would fix what’s “not going exactly right” in the storm’s aftermath. After returning to Washington late Friday from nearly seven hours touring…