Lou Piniella has offered himself up to critics looking to blame somebody for the Chicago Cubs' disappointing season. "Invariably, when things don't go right, it's always the manager's fault," Piniella said before Thursday's game against the Washington Nationals. "You want to blame me? Read more

Brett Favre has been in Minnesota for only 10 days, so he's still getting acquainted with his new Vikings teammates. The 39-year-old quarterback says he's been staying late at team headquarters to study film and learn the tendencies of his new receivers. He's also getting to know the rest of the team on a personal [...]

Ian Kinsler homered twice, the Texas bullpen pitched shutout ball and the Rangers became the first visitors to win a series at Yankee Stadium since mid-June, beating New York 7-2 Thursday. Chris Davis also had a three-run homer for Texas, which took two of three from the club with the best record in the majors. [...]

AP – Southern Afghanistan’s largest city, Kandahar, is slipping back under Taliban control as overstretched U.S. troops focus on clearing insurgents from the countryside ? a potentially alarming setback for President Barack Obama’s war strategy. Read more

AP – Sketched on yellowing parchment, the 29 blueprints presented to Israel’s prime minister Thursday lay out the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in chilling detail, with gas chambers, crematoria, delousing facilities and watch towers drawn to scale. Read more