But nearly 14,500 retirement-eligible hourly workers will stay, showing the difficulty G.M. faces in persuading workers to give up their jobs in a recession.
AP - Concerned about the faltering war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama plans to dispatch thousands more military and civilian trainers on top of the 17,000 fresh combat troops he's already ordered, people familiar with the forthcoming plan said Thursday.
AP - North Dakota's largest city moved to the brink of potentially disastrous flooding Thursday, with earlier optimism fading as officials predicted the Red River would reach a record-high crest of 41 feet by the weekend.
AP - WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama seized the bully pulpit Thursday and reprised the best of his acclaimed campaign skills in an unprecedented Internet town hall from the White House — a direct sales pitch for Americans to get behind his $3.6 trillion budget and be patient as he tries to right the tottering economy.
Connie and Donald McCracken were watching CNN one evening last week when they learned about actress Natasha Richardson's tragic death from a head injury. Immediately, their minds turned to their 7-year-old daughter, Morgan, who was upstairs getting ready for bed. She had been hit by a baseball two days earlier. A short time later, Morgan was on a helicopter being rushed to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital.
Turkish officials continued searching Thursday for the leader of an ultra-nationalist political party whose helicopter crashed a day earlier in the mountains of eastern Turkey.
Parts of Bismarck, North Dakota, are underwater today, and more flooding is possible if rivers in the state continue to rise toward historic levels. The Southport section of Bismarck is swamped with a few inches to several feet of water, according to emergency officials. Fargo also is at risk for flooding. The Red River, which runs between Fargo and Moorhead, Minnesota, is predicted to have a historic 41-foot crest by Saturday.