Bush administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of the way the U.S. financial industry is regulated.

to deal with the problems highlighted by the current severe credit crisis, the new plan would give major new powers to the Federal Reserve

designate the Fed as the primary regulator of market stability, greatly expanding the central bank's ability to examine not just commercial banks but all segments of the financial services industry.

all did not go according to plan on Tuesday in Amman, Jordan, when Mr. McCain, fresh from a visit to Iraq, misidentified some of the main players in the Iraq war.

McCain said several times in his visit to Jordan — in a news conference and in a radio interview — that he was concerned that Iran was training Al Qaeda in Iraq

has been training and financing Shiite extremists in Iraq, but not Al Qaeda, which is a Sunni insurgent group.

At a cost of nearly $42 million, the IRS wants you to know: Your check is almost in the mail.

Internal Revenue Service is spending the money on letters to alert taxpayers to expect rebate checks as part of the economic stimulus plan.

doesn't include the tab for another round of mailings planned for those who didn't file tax returns last year

If you’re older than 65 and enjoy sipping more than one glass of wine with dinner or a few drinks in a single sitting, brace yourself for a sobering thought.That’s too much alcohol for a person your age, according to new research that could put a crimp in senior center happy hours.

one in 10 older U.S. adults is an “unhealthy drinker,” according to a study published this week in journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Unless they curb their ways, they’ll be at risk for medical problems, social trouble and falls, all of which make the normal hazards of aging even worse,

The design of the controversial new headquarters for oil giant Gazprom in St Petersburg - which, at 396m tall, will become the tallest tower in Europe and a major new landmark in the Russian city

Designed by UK-based architectural company RMJM

the building will in fact be one of the most environmentally sustainable high rise buildings in the world

country's first president from the political left in over 50 years

last leftist leader, Jacobo Arbenz, having been ousted by a CIA-organized coup de e'tat in 1954

97 percent of the 1.3 Guatemalans that live abroad work in the US, sending home billions in remittances every year

a development that brings space-based power generation systems a step closer to reality

researchers from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Osaka University Institute of Laser Engineering have developed groundbreaking new technology for converting sunlight into laser beams.

plates made from a special ceramic material containing chromium

homeless chef has been living at London's Gatwick Airport for three years.

leaving only rarely to collect unemployment benefits.

41-year-old ate, showered and slept at the airport despite dozens of run-ins with police and a civil order banning him from the facility.

Rob Stein

surgeon told her she could save her breast.

Lawrence decided to have it removed anyway. And then she decided to have the healthy one removed, too.

obacco

alien mussel, which multiplies so fast it chokes out natives species, clogs pipes and causes havoc, prompted the East Bay Municipal Utility District Thursday to ban some recreational boating

first in what is expected to be a widespread campaign to stop the tiny monster cousins known as the quagga and zebra mussels from ravaging Northern California reservoirs as they have the Great Lakes

believed to have spread on the hulls of boats

A researcher inspired by a famous “Seinfeld” episode has concluded that double dipping is just plain gross.

food microbiologist’s undergraduate students examined the effects of double dipping using volunteers, wheat crackers and several sample dips

three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from an eater’s mouth to the remaining dip sample.

German nudists will be able to start their holidays early by stripping off on the plane if they take up a new offer from an eastern German travel firm.

start taking bookings from Friday for a trial nudist day trip from the eastern German town of Erfurt to the popular Baltic Sea resort of Usedom, planned for July 5 and costing 499 euros ($735).

OssiUrlaub.de

team of Japanese boffins may have accidentally struck gold in the fight against global warming:

they have devised a way to neutralise the perilous belches of 1.5 billion cows

few simple food additives, costing about 50p each day per cow, could remove virtually all methane from a herd’s daily output of greenhouse gas

new limits on how much time they can spend playing their favourite online game.

government in Beijing is reported to be introducing the controls to deter people from playing for longer than three consecutive hours.

designed to combat addiction to online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft and Lineage II.

Chewing too much sugar-free gum containing the artificial sweetener sorbitol can cause diarrhea leading to potentially dangerous weight loss,

21-year-old woman who suffered diarrhea that caused her to lose about 24 pounds and a 46-year-man who lost approximately 46 pounds

Both were found to be consuming a lot of sorbitol

tailpipe emissions standards by California and 16 other states could doom the auto industry

at the North American International Auto Show.

lead to conflicting federal and state standards, and would make automobile production "so expensive that people won't be able to buy, and the companies won't be able to produce anyhow."

Tom Hanks, all-round cinematic good guy

playfully refers to the hedonistic tableau of the opening sequence of his new movie,Charlie Wilson’s War

tells the remarkable true-life tale of how Wilson played a key role in the outcome of the Afghan war of 1979-89, pushing US funding for the Afghan resistance from $5 million to $1 billion a year and facilitating a morale-crushing defeat for the Soviet Union

Montana governor Brian Schweitzer (D) declared independence Friday from federal identification rules and called on governors of 17 other states to join him in forcing a showdown with the federal government which says it will not accept the driver's licenses of rebel states' citizens starting May 11.

resident of a non-complying state could not use a driver's license to enter a federal courthouse or a Social Security Administration building

rules also standardize license formats, require states to interlink their DMV databases and require DMV employee to undergo background checks.

most vocal Kremlin critic in Russia's presidential contest was barred from the ballot Sunday

election authorities who said tens of thousands of signatures on his nominating petitions were faked.

denial of registration to former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov will likely fuel criticism of the election