USA

The first of three space walks by the crew of the shuttle Atlantis was postponed a day until Monday due to an undisclosed medical issue with one of the astronauts, NASA officials said. Until beginning work to install Europe's Columbus laboratory at the International Space Station, the combined shuttle and station crews transferred food, water, and other supplies to the orbiting outpost and examined a minor tear on Atlantis's heat shield.

Slumping Internet icon Yahoo Inc. is expected to spell out Monday why its board rebuffed Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited $44.6 billion buyout offer over the weekend. According to the Associated Press, Yahoo explored a wide variety options during the past week and may be hoping Microsoft will raise its bid.

Firefighters extinguished the fire Saturday that burned for two days after a deadly explosion at the Imperial Sugar refinery outside Savannah, Ga. Rescue crews searched for three workers still missing after five were found dead; 20 others remain hospitalized. An investigation of the explosion has only just begun, but the company's president believes sugar dust may have ignited like gunpowder.

Nebraska was left without a means of carrying out death-row executions after the state Supreme Court rejected electrocutions late last week as torture. Gov. Dave Heineman (R) may introduce a bill to replace electrocution with lethal injection, an aide said.

In Minneapolis, suburbanites have demonstrated a marked willingness to commute by express bus, the Star Tribune reports. Ridership on park-and-ride buses has risen nearly 2 million during the past two years as people faced with high gas and parking costs seek to economize while doing a good turn for the environment. The bus companies, however, have begun to reach their capacity.

American participation in nature-based activities, such as fishing and park visits, has declined about 1 percent a year since the late 1980s, according to an NPR report on data compiled by University of Illinois at Chicago biology teacher Oliver Pergams. Among the few activities that have held steady or increased slightly are hunting and backpacking.

The NFL's Washington Redskins concluded a month-long search for a new coach with a surprise choice Saturday, former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Jim Zorn, who has coached that team's quarterbacks for the past seven years. He was hired away by the Redskins two weeks ago to be Washington's offensive coordinator before his sudden promotion. Zorn replaces Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, who retired.