Senior Washington officials said that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation?s main backers of mortgages, had sufficient capital, as their stocks plunged to 17-year lows.
AP - President Bush signed a bill Thursday that overhauls rules about government eavesdropping and grants immunity to telecommunications companies that helped the U.S. spy on Americans in suspected terrorism cases.
AP - Condoleezza Rice flexed America's muscles in the Middle East Thursday, forcefully warning Iran the U.S. won't ignore threats and will take any action necessary to defend friends and interests in the Persian Gulf. A fresh Iranian missile test prompted a show of force from Israel as well.
AP - Notwithstanding months of partisan wrangling in Congress over the Iraq war, the Senate Thursday handily confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as the top commander in the Middle East and Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno to replace Petraeus as the chief military officer in Iraq.
President Bush's longtime political guru refused to obey an order to testify before the House Judiciary Committee today. Karl Rove's lawyer asserted that, due to "executive privilege," Rove was "immune" from the subpoena. The panel is investigating allegations that Rove and White House allies dismissed U.S. attorneys and prosecuted officials seen as political opponents.
Phil Gramm, a top adviser to Sen. John McCain, on Thursday stood by his comment that the country is in a "mental recession," and said he was trying to say the nation's leaders, not its people, were "whiners."
With Sen. Hillary Clinton beside him, Sen. Barack Obama emphasized the challenges women in his family had overcome as he reached out to female voters at a fundraiser Thursday.