Jobless benefits extended...Baghdad protest...Live online suicide



Washington (AP) Laid-off workers coming to the end of their unemployment benefits are getting some welcome news. President George W. Bush has signed a bill extending payments up to three additional months. Bush had expressed doubts about the extensions but came around as new jobless claims hit a 16-year high last week.

NEW YORK (AP) After a late session sell-off yesterday, traders on Wall Street have been doing some bargain hunting today, though the pickings may be slim. The major indexes have been in positive territory for most of the morning, but there have been no signs of a major rally.

BAGHDAD (AP) Thousands of followers of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been voicing their opposition to a proposed security deal between Iraq and the U.S. At a protest in central Baghdad today, they burned an effigy of George W. Bush. An al-Sadr representative read a sermon from the cleric calling the U.S. "the enemy of Islam."


WASHINGTON (AP) The Justice Department says doctors have given Attorney General Michael Mukasey a "clean bill of health." He is expected to be back home from the hospital soon. Mukasey collapsed during a speech in Washington last night.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) Authorities say a South Florida teen committed suicide in front of a live online audience. The BroWard County medical examiner's office says 19-year-old Abraham Biggs died Wednesday from a combination of opiates and a depressant used to treat insomnia. He had been blogging about his plan to kill himself.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 11-21-08 1039CST | save this article / add to your favorites list