MCI accepts Verizon's raised $8.5 billion offer
Reuters - 58 minutes ago By Justin Hyde. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - MCI Inc. on Monday accepted a raised $8.5 billion bid from Verizon Communications Inc., saying its large business customers might defect if it accepted a higher bid from

Australia Seeks Release of Hostage in Iraq
ABC News - 47 minutes ago Members of the media staking-out the Alamo, Calif. home of Douglas Wood, an Australian man allegedly kidnapped by Iraqi militants, try to ask his neighbors some questions Sunday, May 1, 2005. Iraqi militants

Social Security 'nerd' earns Bush's attention
USA Today - 10 hours ago By John Waggoner, USA TODAY. Robert Pozen isn't the kind of guy you'd normally expect to get a nod from President Bush at a national press conference. Pozen, 58, is chairman, since last year, of MFS Investment

Status of Those Charged at Abu Ghraib
Washington Post - 25 minutes ago By The Associated Press. -- Pfc. Lynndie England's guilty plea, if approved by the judge, would bring to eight the number of Army reservists convicted of abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison. Spc. Sabrina

First Lady's Ribbing Still Talk of DC
San Francisco Chronicle - 59 minutes ago By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer. Laura Leno Bush That's the new nickname President Bush has given the first lady, whose comedy routine at a weekend dinner was still the talk in Washington on Monday.

Disclosures 'sensitized' insurers, Buffett says
International Herald Tribune - 2 hours ago OMAHA, Nebraska Insurers were "sensitized" by disclosures about unseemly practices and financial manipulation, and industry executives have substantially curtailed the practices that have drawn regulatory scrutiny, according to Warren Buffett, the

Sharansky Resigns Israeli Cabinet Post
Washington Post - 1 hour ago By Molly Moore. JERUSALEM, May 2 -- Israeli cabinet member Natan Sharansky, praised by President Bush as an inspirational author, resigned Monday to protest Israel's planned removal of soldiers and Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip.