WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush is balancing a harried schedule of diplomatic duties — from Iraq to China and the United Nations — while working to stay on top of hurricane recovery efforts that most Americans say should be his No. 1 priority. “I can do more than one thing at one time,” the president…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee court reporter who took a disabled-access lawsuit to the Supreme Court is one of 30 witnesses selected to testify during this week’s confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. Beverly L. Jones, a paraplegic from Macon County, was selected by Democratic committee members to emphasize the court’s responsibility to…

By MARTHA MENDOZA / AP National Writer Indian tribes are offering new homes on nearby reservations. Gay couples are taking in other gays. And the NAACP has sent thousands of relief workers into black communities to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina. After the storm hit and even before, ethnic, social and religious communities — from…

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Roberts says he would judge cases “according to the rule of law, without fear or favor” as the nation’s 17th chief justice. After an opening day of speeches and platitudes, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are ready to test that statement. They begin grilling the conservative federal judge Tuesday on…

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The LSU Tigers will play their first home game this season at night as they had hoped. The Tennessee-LSU game on Sept. 24 will begin at 6:45 p.m. CDT and be televised by ESPN, Southeastern Conference officials announced on Monday. LSU’s opener against North Texas on Sept. 3 was postponed…

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A Southeastern Conference official who received death threats after a controversial penalty in last year’s Florida-Tennessee game has been removed from Saturday’s rematch, a newspaper reported Monday. SEC supervisor of officials Bobby Gaston told Florida Today he reassigned side judge Bobby Moreau for safety reasons. Moreau made the personal foul call…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Even when Tennessee had quarterback Peyton Manning, a trip to The Swamp used to spell doom for the Volunteers. Tennessee finally won at Florida in 2001, marking the team’s first victory in Gainesville since 1971. Then the Vols won again in 2003, and now they are looking for their third straight win…

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The New Orleans Saints will have two homes away from home this season. With the Superdome damaged and rendered unusable by Hurricane Katrina, the Saints will play four home games in Baton Rouge, La., and three more in San Antonio, where they’ve already set up operations for the season. Owner Tom…

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons finally showed they could beat the Philadelphia Eagles, but it was merely a season opener. No Super Bowl at stake in this one. Maybe that will come toward the end of the season. “We know we’re going to see this team again,” Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall, savoring a 14-10…

Boller out, Wright in for Ravens this Sunday