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Britain had endured 77 years since one of its own claimed the men's trophy at the revered tournament referred to simply as The Championships, and now here was Murray, on the brink of triumph after 3 hours of grueling tennis against top-seeded Novak Djokovic under a vibrant sun at Centre Court.

Up 40-love, Murray failed to convert his first match point. And his second. And then, yes, his third, too. On and on the contest, and accompanying tension, stretched, Murray unable to close it, Djokovic unwilling to yield, the minutes certainly feeling like hours to those playing and those watching. Along came three break points for Djokovic, all erased. Finally, on Murray's fourth chance to end it, Djokovic dumped a backhand into the net.

The final was over.

The wait was over.

A year after coming oh-so-close by losing in the title match at the All England Club, the No. 2-ranked Murray beat No. 1 Djokovic of Serbia 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 Sunday to become Wimbledon's champion in a test of will and skill between a pair of men with mirror-image defensive styles that created lengthy points brimming with superb shots.

"That last game will be the toughest game I'll play in my career. Ever," said Murray, who was born in Dunblane, Scotland, and is the first British man to win the grass-court Grand Slam tournament since Fred Perry in 1936. "Winning Wimbledon I still can't believe it. Can't get my head around that. I can't believe it."

For several seasons, Murray was the outsider looking in, while Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic collected 29 out of 30 Grand Slam titles. But now Murray has clearly and completely turned the Big 3 into a Big 4, having reached the finals at the last four major tournaments he entered (he withdrew from the French Open in May because of a bad back). And he's now a two-time Slam champion, having defeated Djokovic in five sets at the U.S. Open in September.

All this from a guy who lost his first four major finals, including against Federer at Wimbledon in 2012. After that defeat, Murray's voice cracked and tears rolled as he told the crowd, "I'm getting closer."

How prescient. Four weeks later, on the same court, he beat Federer for a gold medal at the London Olympics, a transformative victory if ever there was one. And 52 weeks later, on the same court, he beat Djokovic for the Wimbledon championship.

"You need that self-belief in the important moments," observed Djokovic, a six-time major champion, "and he's got it now."

Murray's mother, Judy, who is Britain's Fed Cup captain, agreed that the setback 12 months ago "was a turning point in some ways."

"Every time you have a really tough loss, a loss that really hurts you," she said, "I think you learn a lot about how to handle the occasions better going forward."

Murray trailed 4-1 in the second set Sunday, and 4-2 in the third, before wiggling his way back in front each time.

He won the last four games, breaking for a 5-4 lead when Djokovic flubbed a forehand, setting off a standing ovation and applause that lasted more than a full minute. When he got out of his changeover chair, preparing to serve for the title, an earsplitting roar accompanied his trek to the baseline.

Djokovic missed a backhand, Murray smacked a backhand winner and added a 131 mph (211 kph) service winner, and suddenly one point was all that remained between him and history. That's where things got a tad complicated.

On match point No. 1, Djokovic capped a 12-stroke exchange with a forehand volley winner. On No. 2, Djokovic hit a backhand return winner off an 84 mph (135 kph) second serve. On No. 3, Murray sailed a backhand long on the ninth shot.

Now it was deuce.

"I started to feel nervous and started thinking about what just happened," Murray said. "There's a lot of things you're thinking of at that moment."

The match continued for eight additional points.

Seemed to take an eternity.

"Just how that last game went, my head was kind of everywhere. I mean, some of the shots he came up with were unbelievable," Murray said. "At the end of the match, I didn't quite know what was going on. Just a lot of different emotions."

Any of Djokovic's break points in that game would have made it 5-all, and who knows what toll that would have taken on Murray's mind? But Murray erased the first two chances with a 116 mph service winner, then a forehand winner on the 21st stroke.

At deuce for a third time, Djokovic conjured up a forehand passing winner to get his third break point. Murray dropped his head and placed his hands on his knees. The crowd clapped rhythmically and shouted, "Andy! Andy!" They couldn't know it, but their man wouldn't lose another point.

On a 16-shot exchange, Djokovic delivered an overhead that was retrieved, then tried a drop shot that Murray got back. Djokovic put the ball in the net, and Murray was at match point No. 4. When that one went Murray's way, the ball on Djokovic's side of the court, Murray dropped his neon-red racket, yanked his white hat off and pumped both fists overhead, screaming, "Yes! Yes!" He was looking directly at the corner of the stadium with benches for members of the press, a group that he used to worry helped fuel the intense pressure and only-one-way-to-satisfy-them expectations on Murray's shoulders.

"It's hard. It's really hard. You know, for the last four or five years, it's been very, very tough, very stressful," Murray said. "It's just kind of everywhere you go. It's so hard to avoid everything because of how big this event is, but also because of the history and no Brit having won."

When a Brit did win, 15,000 or so spectators around the arena rose and yelled right back at him, some waving Union Jacks or blue-and-white Scottish flags. Soon, Murray was climbing into the guest box for hugs with his girlfriend, his mother and his coach, Ivan Lendl, who won eight major titles as a player but never fared better than the runner-up at Wimbledon.

"I didn't always feel it was going to happen," said Murray, who fumbled with his gold trophy after the ceremony, dropping the lid. "It's incredibly difficult to win these events. I don't think that's that well-understood sometimes. It takes so much hard work, mental toughness, to win these sort of tournaments."

At the end, across the grounds, thousands responded with cheers while watching on a giant videoboard at the picnic lawn known as Murray Mount. And, surely, millions more following along on TV across Britain stood up from their sofas. British Prime Minister David Cameron was in the Royal Box, a sign of the day's significance, and Buckingham Palace confirmed that Queen Elizabeth II sent Murray a private message afterward.

"The end of the match, that was incredibly loud, very noisy," Murray said. "It does make a difference. It really helps when the crowd's like that, the atmosphere is like that. Especially in a match as tough as that one, where it's extremely hot, brutal, long rallies, tough games they help you get through it."

Said Djokovic, who famously ate blades of grass after winning Wimbledon in 2011: "The atmosphere was incredible for him. For me, not so much. But that's what I expected."

The fans were active participants throughout, lamenting "awwww" when Murray missed a serve; cheering rowdily when he hit one of his 36 winners, five more than Djokovic; shushing in unison when someone called out in premature agony or delight while a point was in progress.

That was understandable. Points rarely are over when they appear to be if Murray and Djokovic are involved. The elastic Djokovic's sliding carries him to so many shots, while Murray is more of a powerful scrambler. It took a half-hour to get through the opening five games, in part because 10 of 32 points lasted at least 10 strokes apiece. And this all happened with the temperature above 80 degrees (27 Celsius), with only the occasional puff of cloud interrupting the blue sky.

Born a week apart in May 1987, Murray and Djokovic have known each other since they were 11, and they grasp the ins and outs of each other's games so well.

"You've got to fight so hard to get past Novak, because he's such an incredible competitor, an amazing athlete, and it's never over 'til it's over," Judy Murray said.

This was their 19th meeting on tour (Djokovic leads 11-8), and their fourth in a Grand Slam final, including three in the past year. Both are fantastic returners, and Murray broke seven times Sunday, once more than Djokovic lost his serve in the preceding six matches combined.

In the late going, Djokovic was taking some shortcuts, repeatedly trying drop shots or rushing to the net to shorten points, but neither strategy tended to work.

"He was getting some incredible shots on the stretch and running down the drop shots," Djokovic said. "He was all over the court."

Admittedly feeling the effects of his five-setter Friday against Juan Martin del Potro at 4 hours, 43 minutes, it's the longest semifinal in Wimbledon history Djokovic was far more erratic than Murray, with particular problems on the backhand side. Djokovic wound up with 40 unforced errors, nearly double Murray's 21.

"I wasn't patient enough," Djokovic said.

Ah, patience. The British needed plenty when it comes to their precious, prestigious tennis tournament.

Thanks to Murray, the wait is over.

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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

On Tuesday, classes began in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) with about 6,000 students, and a very limited amount of teachers.

Weve never had a shortage for summer school, never. And Ive been in DISD for about 12 years, Angela Davis, president of the National Education Association, a teachers group, .

So, whats the problem?

Teachers blame Superintendent Mike Miles, a leader who they claim has a very heavy hand when it comes to management. Davis told the television station that teachers were very stressed during the school year.

Michael Messer, regional organizer for Save Texas Schools in Dallas-Fort Worth, agreed.

Since the board hired Mike Miles to be superintendent, his heavy-handed approach has left the teachers and staff demoralized, Messer told TakePart. The school board and Mike Miles decided to fire two principals and approximately 400 teachers in late May. Many experienced teachers have left the profession in response to these harsh measures. At some point, you have to expect people to start standing up for themselves, even if their typical response to administrative adversity is to grin and bear it for the students.

Messer said that teachers can refuse to teach summer school because their contracts do not obligate them to do so. Teachers are only paid a daily rate for teaching summer classes.

He said teachers have been extremely stressed since spring 2012 when the district school board decided to increase class sizes and extend the workday by 45 minutes. Theyto do their jobs, he said.

These moves made the teachers jobs more difficult by adding extra paperwork to their already busy schedule, he said. It insulted them by insinuating that they did not already work enough hours to justify their salary. Anyone who is or knows a teacher understands just how much personal time they devote to grading homework, writing lesson plans, and heading after-school programs.

Andedicated to issues in the Dallas school district paints a dire picture. A teacher in the district wrote that while conditions during the regular school year are tough, summer school poses its own set of problems.

The entire student body consists of the students who failed despite all interventions. A large percentage of these same students are disruptive and unable to behave appropriately in a classroom, she wrote. Its a tough gig to jump in the trenches with so many below-level kids and get them up to speed so they can promote to the next grade.

Teachers attempt to do their best in summer school with struggling students, but its tough. In addition, this year there is additional stress for teachers. The staff will be closely monitored with more spot observations. She adds, In short, teachers were promised more opportunities to get fired.

The teachers arent the only ones saying enough is enough. This week, the school districts communications chiefjust days after the personnel chief and the operations chief quit.

Because of the shortage, students who must attend summer school in Dallas may be placed in larger classes. And more students in one classroom means less one-on-one attention. Therefore, students who were already having trouble understanding the material (or had failed the controversial STAAR exams) have less time with a teacher to explain, Messer said. It renders summer school an ineffective waste of taxpayer funds, and the students are more likely to repeat classes.

Related stories on TakePart:

The pair were joint leaders at five-under following the third round, with several other contenders within striking distance at the 2018 Ryder Cup venue.

Yet Northern Ireland's McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champion, and Sterne both birdied two of their first six holes to ensure they were in prime position to keep their rivals at a distance.

McDowell bogeyed the par-four seventh, only his fourth of the week, but picked himself up to birdie the ninth and 10th as Sterne began to falter.

The South African fell away after the turn, bogeying the 12th, 16th and 17th.

McDowell hit a superb birdie on the 17th to add a final flourish and add to his wins at the RBC Heritage in South Carolina and the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Bulgaria.

He ended with a four-under 67 and winning total of nine-under 275.

McDowell, who missed the cut at last week's Irish Open in what has been a year of fluctuating results for the Ryder Cup stalwart, moved to second behind Justin Rose in the Race to Dubai rankings.

"It's very special after the last couple of months," McDowell told the European Tour website (www.europeantour.com).

"It's been a bit of a battle. It's been a funny year. My game has not felt far away most weeks but I have missed a lot more cuts than normal and missing cuts hurts.

"It certainly motivated me a lot the last few weeks. The U.S. Open was a tough one to take and missing the cut in Ireland last week.

"It made me more hungry to want to be in positions like I was this afternoon."

Sterne, also a winner on the tour in 2013, finished the round on even par and five-under for the tournament, while Spain's Eduardo de la Riva and England's Graeme Storm were tied for third a shot further back.

(Reporting by Josh Reich; editing by Toby Davis)

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"I had these specially made for the Stampede and it's the mission patch that was made for the Canadian Space Agency and on the back we had them inlay a Maple Leaf," Hadfield said as he held up a cowboy boot in preparation for playing marshal for the Calgary Stampede parade on Friday.

"The thing I think is coolest is it's alligator and it still flexes with the alligator hide. I'm like a six-year-old boy. I think that's pretty cool."

Hadfield greeted his Twitter followers earlier Thursday.

"Good morning, from the 1st day of my retirement. Headed to Calgary for the Stampede, booted, looking forward to seeing everyone there."

Hadfield announced his retirement last month and his intention to move back to Canada following a 21-year career as an astronaut that was mostly spent in the U.S.

Hadfield spent five months on the International Space Station where he thrilled those on earth with pictures, videos, songs and a stream of tweets.

He became the first Canadian commander of the space station and he performed more than 130 science experiments and made numerous virtual visits to classrooms across the country.

It was Hadfield's third space flight. He was the only Canadian to visit the Russian space station Mir in 1995, and the first Canadian to perform a spacewalk when he installed Canadarm 2 in 2001.

He woke up Thursday and realized he was done.

"It felt weird. I was signed on with the Armed Forces when I was 18 years old. It's a responsibility. It's a life of service," he said.

"It's putting somebody else's needs ahead of your own for your entire career. Serving as an astronaut has been the same thing. I've worked for the Canadian government since I was 18. I'm going to turn 54 this summer so it's been 35 years. My wife and I have served all around the world."

Hadfield said he and his wife will live in Toronto

He said he is beginning to realize things will be a lot different now.

"It's almost as if you've been knowing a whole area for a long time and then suddenly you start walking down a path that you've never been down before.

"Even though it's a path and it's where you used to live, suddenly things look a little different and I've just started going down that path right now," Hadfield said.

"I'm a new guy at this and it's going to be interesting to see how it all turns out," he said with a smile.

"It's all part of the same continuum but today is a brave new day."

Harper had missed 31 games with an injured left knee but the 20-year-old returned in style with a homer in his first at-bat to put the Nationals on course for the win and draw a curtain call from his home fans.

As Washington seized an 8-0 lead, Zimmermann worked his way through six innings and allowed four runs to take his record to 12-3, moving level with Detroit's Max Scherzer (12-0) for the most wins in the Major Leagues.

Jayson Werth had five RBIs at the plate for the Nationals while the struggling Brewers suffered their sixth straight loss.

In Houston, Matt Moore tossed seven impressive shutout innings to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a comprehensive 12-0 drubbing of the hapless Astros.

Moore struck out nine batters and allowed just two hits to improve to 11-3 and Tampa Bay belted 17 hits in a dominant performance. Ryan Roberts smacked two home runs while Sean Rodriguez went 4-for-6 with three RBIs.

In Cincinnati, the Reds pounded San Francisco 8-1 in a rain-shortened game that lasted only six innings.

Todd Frazier had a home run and four RBIs to lead the offensive charge against Giants pitcher Michael Kickham, who lasted just 2 2/3 innings.

Rain halted the game after the sixth inning and the umpires waited almost an hour and a half before calling off the contest.

In Minnesota, Robinson Cano launched a pair of home runs and the New York Yankees used a late burst to beat the Twins 10-4.

Cano homered in the first and third innings, to give him 19 on the year, then figured in his team's late rally. He scored on an error to tie the game 4-4 in the eighth, where New York put up three runs before added four in the ninth to pull away.

Yankees starter Andy Pettitte broke the franchise's career strikeout record with his 1,958th, one more than Whitey Ford. (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by John O'Brien)

Starting with books, movies and TV shows video products, Amazon will include mobile phones and cameras in the coming weeks, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Under the marketplace model, the U.S. company will offer a platform for third parties and consumers to sell and buy products. Foreign companies are currently not allowed to directly offer online retailing in India.

Amazon already runs a price comparison portal, junglee.com, in India.

(Writing by Ranjit Gangadharan in Mumbai; Editing by Anand Basu)

Merck said it received a complete response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration saying that the agency could consider a 10 milligram starting dose of suvorexant for most patients, but that the company would have to have that dosage ready before it could be approved.

The FDA in its letter said 15 mg and 20 mg doses would be appropriate in patients in whom the 10 mg dose is well-tolerated but not effective, Merck said.

ISI Group analyst Mark Schoenebaum said the manufacturing study could lead to about a one-year delay in approval, especially if the FDA asks for long-term stability testing of the lower dose version.

Merck declined to discuss the timeline or potential length of delay as a result of the FDA response.

Merck had proposed that elderly patients start by taking 15 milligrams of the drug and increase that to 30 if necessary, and had recommended that non-elderly adults start on 20 milligrams and increase to 40 milligrams if needed. In its letter, the FDA determined that doses of 30 mg and 40 mg were not safe for approval, Merck said on Monday.

Merck said it doesn't see the need for further clinical studies to move forward with a 10 mg dose, but would require manufacturing studies to move ahead.

Such manufacturing studies typically involve development of standard manufacturing and operational procedures to demonstrate that the pill can be manufactured in a stable and reproducible form. It could also require demonstrating that the medicine has a durable shelf life.

"We know how to do this. We do this all the time," Merck spokesman Steven Cragle said.

ISI's Schoenebaum, who forecast annual suvorexant sales of $700 million by 2018, in a research note estimated a modest impact to Merck from the delay, and found a silver lining in that "suvorexant at 15 mg and 20 mg doses appears to the FDA to be approvable."

He said a one-year delay lowers ISI's 2018 Merck EPS estimate by only 0.25 percent to 0.6 percent.

Merck also said it will discuss with the FDA whether additional studies will be required to support a 5 mg dose for certain patients.

Suvorexant belongs to a new class of insomnia medicines called orexin receptor antagonists and would be the first such medicine on the market if approved. It is designed to facilitate sleep by blocking neurotransmitters in the brain that help to keep a person awake.

Merck shares were up 13 cents at $46.58 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Michele Gershberg and Bill Berkrot; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Gary Hill)

The first liliger was born in the zoo last year and now there's a second litter of three, all of them females.

They were born in May, and now have grown up enough to start exploring their surroundings, showing an endearing clumsy energy.

Their mother, Zita, was born in the zoo in 2004. Their father, Sam, is an African lion.

Here's a gallery of images from the Novosibirsk zoo.

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Follow AP photographers and photo editors on Twitter: http://apne.ws/15Oo6jo .