Obama's vague gay marriage views scrutinized

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's election-year vagueness on gay marriage is coming under fresh scrutiny.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan broke ranks with the White House on Monday, stating his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage one day after Vice President Joe Biden suggested that he supported gay marriage as well.

Obama aides worked to manage any political fallout. They said the back-to-back remarks by two top administration officials represented personal viewpoints and were not part of a coordinated effort to lay groundwork for a shift in the president's position. Obama aides also tried to use the latest flare-up in the gay-marriage debate to shine a light on GOP rival Mitt Romney's history of equivocating on some gay-rights issues, an attempt to turn a potential political problem into an opportunity.

Obama, who supports most gay rights, has stopped short of backing gay marriage. Without clarification, he's said for the past year and a half that his personal views on the matter are "evolving."

The White House held firm on Monday to that position, which polls show puts the president increasingly at odds with his party and the majority of Americans on gay marriage. But with Biden and Duncan's comments reinvigorating the debate, Obama is likely to face renewed pressure to clarify his views ahead of the November election.

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Israeli president: Early election canceled

JERUSALEM - The Israeli president's office is confirming that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled early elections.

In a statement early today, President Shimon Peres' office said that Netanyahu had informed the president that he has reached an agreement with the leading opposition party, Kadima, to form a broad-based coalition government.

That agreement overrides Netanyahu's announcement Monday that his governing coalition would seek early elections.

The dramatic turn of events could influence any decision on a possible Israeli strike on Iran. Kadima's leader Shaul Mofaz, a former military chief and defense minister, has been a vocal critic of Israel striking Iran's nuclear sites on its own.

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Army found no bullet wound in Skype soldier

WASHINGTON - Army investigators said Monday they found no bullet wound or evidence of foul play in the death of a soldier in Afghanistan who died during a Skype video chat with his wife.

Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark collapsed while speaking to his wife on May 1 from his base in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan, southwest of Kabul. His wife, Susan Orellana-Clark, has suggested that Clark was shot, citing a hole visible in the closet behind him that she believed was a bullet hole.

Investigators said an initial probe showed no trauma to the body except that Clark broke his nose when he fell forward. Orellana-Clark said he didn't seem alarmed before he collapsed.

Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command, said Monday that the investigation is still under way.

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Mexico political debate derailed by busty model

MEXICO CITY - Who won Mexico's presidential debate? According to the media and Twitter frenzy, at least, the victor wasn't any candidate but a curvaceous model in a tight gown who puzzled millions by appearing on stage for less than 30 seconds during the showdown.

Julia Orayen has posed nude for Playboy and appeared barely dressed in other media, but she made her mark on Mexican minds Sunday night by carrying an urn filled with bits of paper determining the order that candidates would speak.

Not that viewers were looking at the urn.

She wore a tight, white dress with a wide, tear-drop cutout that revealed her ample decolletage. The image was splashed across newspaper front pages and websites by Monday.

"The best was the girl in white with the cleavage at the beginning," tweeted former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda, who is also a New York University professor.

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FBI: Bodies of Tennessee mom, daughter found

GUNTOWN, Miss. - The bodies of a Tennessee mother and her oldest daughter were found behind an alleged kidnapper's house in north Mississippi, the FBI said Monday, and authorities believe the woman's two other daughters are still with the man accused in their abduction.

Jo Ann Bain and her three daughters disappeared April 27 as the family was packing to move to Arizona. The bodies of Bain and her 14-year-old daughter, Adrienne Bain, were found behind Adam Mayes' house near Guntown, a rural area police have been searching.

The bodies were discovered late last week and positively identified. The FBI did not say how the two died.

The FBI said it believed the other daughters - 12-year-old Alexandria and 8-year-old Kyliyah - were still with Mayes. The agency did not say in a news release why it thought that, and FBI spokesman Joel Siskovic said no further details were available on the bodies or the search for Mayes and the girls.

Mayes, a longtime friend of Bain's husband, had stayed over at the family's house to help them pack and load a U-Haul to drive across the country to Arizona, authorities said. Gary Bain, who was at the house that night, awoke to find his wife, daughters and Mayes gone.

- The Associated Press