AP - The housing bill Congress is preparing to send President Bush would:

Reuters - The House of Representatives passed a massive housing rescue bill on Wednesday while the White House dropped a threat to veto it, paving the way for measures aimed at shoring up the worst U.S. housing market since the Great Depression.

AFP - A wide-ranging housing rescue plan passed by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday could help ease the downward spiral in the property market that is weighing on the US economy, analysts say.

AFP - A resolution was introduced Wednesday in the US House of Representatives asking China to end human rights abuses and its support for tainted governments in Sudan and Myanmar in line with "Olympic traditions of freedom and openness".

AP - Opponents of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military denounced it as cruel and unpatriotic Wednesday. Supporters insisted it was needed to maintain military morale, and raised the prospect of a rise of HIV infection among service members if gays are allowed to serve openly.

AP - Cash-strapped homebuyers and borrowers facing foreclosure will get some relief from a housing bill passed by the House on Wednesday but the bill won't solve the deep-rooted ills of the U.S. housing market.

AP - Rescue legislation sailed through the House on Wednesday aimed at helping 400,000 strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure and preventing the collapse of troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

AP - It's so easy to fabricate the medical certificates required to operate commercial trucks on the nation's highways that there's almost no incentive for truckers to obtain a legitimate document, according to a congressional study.