WASHINGTON - The Bush administration says the long-term outlook for the U.S. economy is bright, and steps are being taken to address short-term weakness. Some candidates in the presidential election campaign believe a stimulus package crafted by the White House and congressional leaders is either misguided or fails to address the country’s most pressing needs.
Treasury […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush goes before the U.S. Congress and the American people Monday evening to lay out his priorities for his last year in office.  
White House officials say the president will not spend much time looking back. Instead, they say, he will look to the future in his final State of the Union […]

JERUSALEM - Israel is resisting international demands to ease its crippling blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The situation is testing ties between Israel and Egypt, which blame each other for the collapse of border security this week.
Five days after hundreds of thousands of Palestinians surged across the Gaza border into Egypt to buy food […]

RAFAH, EGYPT - There was a chaotic scene Saturday at the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Egyptian security forces practically abandoned the border after clashes erputed with Palestinians on Friday when they tried to close it down. They tried instead to keep the Palestinians from leaving the border town of Rafah. Hundreds of […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush wants swift Congressional action on tax cuts to stimulate the economy and broader powers for the government to monitor the communications of suspected terrorists. Opposition Democrats want more court oversight of eavesdropping and both Republican and Democratic senators want to expand the president’s economic stimulus plan.
President Bush says Congress should […]

BAGHDAD - After successive suicide attacks in Mosul in recent days, killing over 40 people including the city’s police chief, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced on Friday that Iraqi security forces and American troops were gathering for what he described as a “decisive” offensive against al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and its allies.
“We have set […]

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration said Friday a proposed agreement with Iraq governing the use of U.S. forces in that country would not tie the hands of a future President on Iraq policy. The envisaged deal, to take effect at the beginning of next year, has become an election year political issue.
Negotiations with Iraq on […]

WASHINGTON - Democratic leaders in Congress are challenging President Bush on foreign and domestic policy, in advance of his State of the Union address on Monday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid combined a list of Democratic accomplishments with criticisms of the president’s policies.
The sharpest comments were on foreign policy, with […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush wants Congress to broaden the government’s powers to eavesdrop on private conversations without court approval. A controversial public surveillance law is set to expire February 1.
President Bush says the government’s ability to listen-in on telephone calls is critical to fighting terror.
“One of the most important tools is to be able to […]

CAIRO - Egyptian security forces have tried to seal the border with the Gaza Strip two days after it was blown open by armed Gaza militants. But Egyptian border guards gave up and withdrew after their efforts failed. Thousands of Gazans have crossed again into Egypt to buy food and other supplies.
Egyptian security forces in […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush is calling on the U.S. Congress to approve a bill to expand and renew a wiretapping law that is set to expire February 1. Action is pending in the Senate, where lawmakers are divided over whether there should be greater civil liberties’ protections in the legislation.
At issue is the so-called Protect […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush and Congressional leaders from both political parties have reached agreement on $150 billion in tax relief in an effort to help stimulate the U.S. economy.
The agreement includes provision to give up to $600 in tax rebates to millions of wage earners and an additional $300 refund for each child. It […]

ISTANBUL - Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is making a historic visit to Turkey. It is the first time in 49 years that a prime minister of Greece has made an official visit to Turkey. The two countries have been at the brink of war several times over the last three decades. The visit is […]

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met with congressional leaders Wednesday for talks on a stimulus package for the U.S. economy.
Secretary Paulson met with the leaders of both political parties in the House of Representatives - Democrat Nancy Pelosi and Republican John Boehner.  Boehner told reporters they looked at a lot of options […]

PENTAGON - A senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan says Taliban and al-Qaida forces in the Pakistan border area are turning their attention more toward Pakistan, and are working together to hit Pakistani forces. Major General David Rodriguez spoke to reporters at the Pentagon Wednesday.
General Rodriguez says better security in his area of eastern Afghanistan, and […]

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA (ANS) – An inter-denominational coalition of Hollywood writers, actors, producers, and other industry professionals will hold a series of weekly evenings dedicated to pray, and build community until the end of the Writer’s Guild of America strike, as well as offer practical support and counseling to those […]

WASHINGTON - The U. S. stock market staged a dramatic late day rally Wednesday, amid optimism that declining interest rates may keep the economy from a prolonged downturn.U.S. stocks fell sharply as trading began but then recovered to post strong gains. Share prices rose two percent or more in some Asian markets and Hong Kong’s […]

BEIJING - China is facing a serious power shortage, throughout the country, amid tight coal supplies.
It is a cold winter in most of China - an especially bad time for a power shortage.
One of the main reasons for the outages is that there is not enough coal in the country. Coal-fired power plants provided about […]

PARIS - Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf downplayed fears Tuesday that Islamist militants are gaining strength in Pakistan. His remarks came during a visit to Paris that included talks with his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy. Pervez Musharraf is to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum […]

JERUSALEM - Thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip poured into an Egyptian border town, early Wednesday, after militants blew a large hole in the border wall overnight that separates Gaza from Egypt.
A huge explosion signaled the latest development in the week-old Gaza crisis. Militants blew a large hole in the high metal wall that […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush says he is optimistic about reaching agreement with opposition legislators on an economic stimulus package. The U.S. central bank has cut the key interest rate in an effort to boost the troubled U.S. economy and stop a global sell-off of stocks.
President Bush met with leaders from both political parties in […]

WASHINGTON - Former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee quit the race for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination Tuesday after a series of disappointing finishes in the early nominating contests.  Thompson’s withdrawal comes as the remaining Republican contenders focus on Florida while the Democratic presidential hopefuls are preparing for Saturday’s primary in South Carolina. 
Thompson issued a […]

JOHANNESBURG - The World Food Program has begun delivering relief supplies by air to communities affected by widespread flooding in Mozambique.
The World Food Program says it has begun delivering food and other supplies such as tents, plastic sheets, and mosquito netting to areas in Mozambique cut off by flooding. About 76,000 people have been temporarily […]

WASHINGTON - Cuba’s Fidel Castro is standing for re-election Sunday in one-party parliamentary elections, despite health problems that have kept him out of public view for more than a year.
More than eight million Cubans are eligible to cast ballots to select members of Cuba’s Communist Party-controlled National Assembly. Fidel Castro, 81, is on the ballot, and […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. central bank has slashed a key interest rate amid a global market upheaval sparked by fears of a possible U.S. recession.  The Bush administration has also renewed calls for a swift economic-stimulus package to spur growth. 
The interest-rate cut is the biggest by the Federal Reserve since the aftermath of the terrorist […]