NPR News

Thousands of Iraqis gathered Friday at a central square in Baghdad to demonstrate against a security agreement that would keep U.S. forces in Iraq for another three years. The protesters are supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who opposes the accord. Iraqi lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the agreement Monday.

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A federal judge in Washington has ordered the Bush administration to release five detainees from the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The men have been held there for seven years on evidence the judge finds insufficient. The ruling is the first by a trial judge since the Supreme Court declared in June that the Guantanamo prisoners have the right to challenge their detentions in U.S. courts.

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The G-20 last weekend committed to exercising strong oversight of credit rating agencies. Many of the financial instruments that are at the heart of the financial crisis had been given AAA ratings, meaning they were supposed to be of the highest quality. That turned out to be wrong. Will the G-20 declaration change anything?

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Stock prices are at six-year lows. Over the past two days, the Dow Jones industrial average has lost more than 6 percent of its value. The $700 billion bailout was supposed to stabilize the financial industry and get banks lending again. But that hasn't happened yet.

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Lawmakers are demanding that GM, Ford and Chrysler submit a plan for improvements before Congress will consider a $25 billion aid package for the auto industry. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid say if there's a viable plan, Congress might return to work early next month for a vote. Some lawmakers wanted Congress to stay in session.

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Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd says he's angry that banks are using government-provided funds to pay dividends, for excessive executive compensation and for acquiring other banks. He also says the Treasury has been too slow in addressing the mortgage crisis.

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Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is said to be President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be the next secretary of homeland security. In taking on the job, she would draw on her experience with immigration and border-state issues.

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The judge said there was no evidence to justify the detention of the Algerians, who have spent seven years in detention. They could be sent to Bosnia, where they were arrested in connection with an alleged terrorist plot.

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Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who made a spirited bid for the Republican presidential nomination, has a new book. He talks about what's next for the GOP and how the party can recover, as it did after the Watergate scandal.

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After the Big Three auto executives spent two days seeking support on Capitol Hill for a bailout, the grand finale is no finale at all. Democratic leaders say they are delaying a vote until the auto companies present a plan showing how they will restructure their business.

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In a power shift in the House, Rep. Henry Waxman of California has defeated Rep. John Dingell of Michigan for the chairmanship of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

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Amid job cuts, restructuring and pleas to Congress for financial aid, General Motors and Chrysler are represented, but not making much of a splash, at this week's Los Angeles Auto Show.

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As central banks continue to slash interest rates almost to zero, prices can plummet. It creates a liquidity trap, as it did in the 1930s and in Japan during the 1990s. Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff outlines what deflation could mean for modern America.

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The Fontainebleau Hotel was once the height of Miami Beach sophistication. Now the hotel will reopen after a $1 billion renovation, but it's not clear the Florida economy is ready to support it.

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Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said this week that financial markets have "stabilized" But the daily numbers don't agree. Bank stocks remain under pressure and the credit market worsened again Wednesday. Are the government's actions producing the desired results?

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President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to bring change to Washington, but his administration appears to have a lot of familiar names from the Clinton years. Presidential historian Robert Dallek discusses the composition of the new White House.

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The Dow Jones industrial average takes yet another tumble as the price of oil drops below $50 a barrel.

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A Harvard Square landmark may soon fall victim to the decline of the newspaper business. For more than 50 years, Out of Town News in Cambridge, Mass., has offered newspapers from all over the world.

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Alaska's Ted Stevens bid farewell to his Senate colleagues Thursday as his nearly 40-year career draws to a close. The longest-serving Republican in the Senate was convicted on corruption charges last month and narrowly lost his re-election bid to Democrat Mark Begich.

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NASA's aging shuttle fleet is expected to be retired before the agency has a new space transportation system in place. The GAO has identified this spaceship gap as one of 13 urgent issues facing the new administration.

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