MARYLAND

No Martha's Vineyard for Obamas this year President Obama remained cloistered with his wife and his daughters at Camp David for a fourth and final day on Tuesday -- a rare long weekend that reflects the fact that the family will forgo its usual August vacation. White House officials confirmed that the Obama family will not go to Martha's Vineyard this year, as it has each summer of the president's term. One official chalked up the decision to the demands of the re-election campaign. The family is likely to take a shorter-than-usual vacation, the official said, without saying where or when.

CALIFORNIA

Ex-Commerce chief won't be charged Los Angeles County prosecutors won't file criminal charges against former Commerce Secretary John Bryson in two alleged hit-and-run crashes on June 9. Bryson, 68, resigned last month after the Commerce Department said the crashes were caused by seizures. Low amounts of Ambien were found in his bloodstream, officials said, but investigators could not determine if the sleep aid was a factor in the collisions.

WISCONSIN

Democratic Senate candidate wins recount A recount in last month's recall election concluded that Democratic candidate John Lehman had ousted Republican state Sen. Van Wanggaard by 819 votes in a district centering on Racine. That would give Democrats a 17-16 majority in the state Senate once Lehman is certified and sworn in. When that will take place remains uncertain because Wanggaard has not conceded and has threatened to go to court.

SYRIA

Assad regrets downing of Turkish jet President Bashar Assad told a Turkish newspaper that he regrets "100 percent" Syria's downing of a Turkish plane last month and said ground gunners assumed the jet was an Israeli warplane. "In the case of a Turkish plane, I am saying 100 percent, 'If only this had not happened,'" Assad told the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet. "In this kind of climate, when a plane approaches like this, it is naturally considered hostile." But Assad offered no apology and did not retreat from Syria's account that the aircraft was hit well within domestic airspace -- a version disputed by the Turks.

NEWS SERVICES