USA

Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) of Illinois will tell his side of a corruption scandal that has state lawmakers pursuing an impeachment inquiry against him no later than Thursday, he told reporters while leaving his Chicago home Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., long considered the premier investment bank on Wall Street and the sturdiest amid turmoil, reported Tuesday a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of $2.29 billion, its first quarterly loss since going public in 1991.

Fighting for the survival of the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News, the partnership that runs both newspapers announced Tuesday that, beginning in spring 2009, home delivery would be limited to Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays, the most popular papers for readers. Above, pressman Clarence Ball prepares to print the News, which will still be available at newsstands and coin boxes seven days a week, in Sterling Heights, Mich.

Concerned with gun violence in Washington, D.C., the city council passed Tuesday what was described as one of the most progressive registration laws in the country. The measure, adopted in response to a June Supreme Court ruling that struck down the district's 32-year-old ban on handguns, requires gun owners to register weapons every three years and to receive training by a certified arms instructor.

Small cars are showing im-provement in crash tests, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported Wednesday, while cautioning that many models still need better side- and rear-crash protection. The Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Matrix, and Suzuki SX4 are the only models tested that received top scores in the latest side-crash tests.

Police in Florida finally closed the books on a 1981 murder case Tuesday that prompted John Walsh, the father of an abducted and decapitated six-year-old, to launch the TV show "America's Most Wanted" and spur efforts to find missing persons. At a press conference in Hollywood, Fla., police conclusively linked serial killer Ottis Toole, long the prime suspect of investigators as well as of Walsh, to the crime. Toole died in prison in 1996.

President-elect Obama named Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar his pick to lead the Interior Department and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack for Agriculture secretary in Tuesday cabinet announcements.

The three-member congressional panel monitoring the Treasury Department's $700 billion rescue plan held its first public hearing Tuesday in Las Vegas. Economists, bankers, homeowners, and government officials in Clark County, which has the highest US foreclosure rate, said there's little evidence that monies are reaching the local economy.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
QR Code to USA
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2008/1218/p03s01-nbgn.html
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe