President Bush extended a law that could give some of the thousands of interpreters working for the American military refuge in the US under a special visa program.
After a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israel said all issues would be negotiable, including the status of a contested piece of land on the Lebanon border.
AP - Palestinian militants launched at least 50 rockets and mortars from Gaza and Israel responded with airstrikes on Wednesday, just a day before a truce was set to take effect, illustrating how fragile the arrangement between Israel and Hamas would be.
AP - Stocks tumbled Wednesday amid renewed concerns about the financial sector and after FedEx Corp. warned that weakening demand and surging fuel costs would weigh on fiscal 2009 profits. The Dow Jones industrial average fell below the 12,000 mark for the first time since mid-March and, along with the other major indexes, showed a decline of more than 1 percent.
Water spilled over two levees on the Mississippi River today, surging into west-central Illinois, covering fertile farmland and pushing residents from their homes, officials said. Stranded pigs sunned themselves atop a barn near Oakville, Iowa, with floodwaters lapping near the roof of the building.
Economic woes are expected to continue until at least mid-2009, and things may get worse before they get better, according to a quarterly survey of chief financial officers.
President Bush urged Congress today to permit drilling for oil off America's coasts -- on the outer continental shelf -- to combat rising oil and gas prices. "There is no excuse for delay," the president said.