RAY SUAREZ: The price of crude oil took a new dive today, falling more than $4. The petroleum market slumped amid signs that global demand is slowing. In New York, oil dropped well below $127 a barrel, after peaking last week at $135.
The news helped Wall Street a little. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 52 points to close at 12,646. The Nasdaq rose 21 points to close at 2,508.
The former White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, today defended his claims the president oversold the war in Iraq. He discussed the assertions in his new book on NBC. McClellan said at first he put aside misgivings about the war. He said, "I believed the president when he talked about a grave and gathering danger from Iraq."
But in Sweden, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice rejected accusations the administration misled the public. She said, "The president was very clear about the reasons for going to war." We'll have more on the story right after this news summary.
In Iraq today, a suicide bomber killed at least 16 people. It happened at a police recruiting center in the northwest, near the Syrian border.
Meanwhile, in Tikrit, a neighborhood patrol came under attack, fought back, and killed at least 12 militants.
Secretary of State Rice talked up progress in Iraq today at a U.N. conference. She said the country is now a functioning state, but could use more help.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. Secretary of State: The Iraqis don't need large sums of money. They do need large infusions of technical assistance, project support, helping to build adequate police forces, helping to build an adequate justice system, helping to build the capacity to execute their large budgets down to the provincial and the local levels.
RAY SUAREZ: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki also appealed to neighboring countries to cancel $67 billion in foreign debts.
Suicides in the Army rose again last year by 13 percent. A new Pentagon report today found 115 soldiers took their own lives in 2007. A quarter of those suicides occurred in Iraq; that was up from 102 suicides in the previous year. The figures do not include Army National Guard and Reserve troops who've returned to civilian life.
Heavy rain poured down on the earthquake zone in China today and threatened widespread flooding. The rain triggered more landslides and hampered work to drain so-called quake lakes. They were formed after the May 12th quake touched off landslides.
The bad weather today also grounded helicopters doing relief work. We'll have more on the recovery effort with Margaret Warner in China later in the program tonight.
The military junta in Myanmar accused international aid donors today of not giving enough to cyclone victims. The government has asked for $11 billion, but pledges so far total $150 million. Myanmar has barred most foreign aid teams since the cyclone hit, but today it approved 45 visas for U.N. workers.
The South African government decided today against setting up large camps for foreign workers. Attacks on migrants erupted in Johannesburg nearly three weeks ago; since then, at least 56 people have died and some 40,000 have fled their homes. A government spokesman said today creating small shelters would avoid health and security problems. We'll have more on this story later in the program.
Opponents of gay marriage criticized New York Gov. David Paterson today. The New York Times reported he's instructed state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages from out of state.
The state's Conservative Party said Paterson is trying to overturn the will of the people. The governor denied it. New York does not allow gay marriages to be performed inside the state.
The Texas State Supreme Court ruled children taken from a polygamist sect should be returned to their parents; that upheld an earlier lower court ruling last week. Police removed more than 400 children from the west Texas ranch last month. It was amid claims underage girls were forced into sexual relationships with other sect members.
The drug company Merck won two major legal appeals today in the fight over Vioxx. The cases involved lawsuits that claimed the painkiller caused fatal heart problems. A Texas appeals court threw out a verdict of $26 million from the first case to go to trial. And a court in New Jersey wiped out $9 million from a $14 million verdict.
