RAY SUAREZ: Four suicide bombers killed at least 57 people in Iraq today. Nearly 300 others were wounded in some of the worst violence in weeks.
Iraqi officials said it appeared all of the attackers were women. Three blew themselves up in Baghdad, targeting Shiite pilgrims. Today, troops stood guard at the scene.
To the north, in Kirkuk, another bomber struck at Kurdish protesters demonstrating against a provincial elections law.
The U.S. commander in Iraq offered an upbeat view today. Army Gen. David Petraeus told Reuters Iraqi and coalition forces control "the vast majority of the country." He acknowledged suicide bombers will get through sometimes, but he said withdrawing thousands of U.S. troops has not hurt security. We'll have more on Iraq right after this news summary.
Bombings hit Turkey and India over the weekend. In Istanbul, a pair of bombers killed 17 people Sunday. Today, thousands of Turks attended funerals for some of the victims. Prime Minister Erdogan blamed the attacks on Kurdish rebels. The main rebel group denied involvement.
In India, police in Ahmadabad investigated 16 bombings that killed 45 people on Saturday night. At least one person was arrested today. An Islamic militant group claimed responsibility there.
President Bush praised Pakistan today for its commitment to fighting terrorism. He did so as the Pakistani prime minister visited the White House. Their meeting came amid tensions over attacks in Afghanistan by militants from across the border with Pakistan.
Later, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino summed up U.S. relations with Pakistan.
DANA PERINO, White House Spokeswoman: It's tense in that we are working together to try to fight counterterrorism, but I think that we are much more on the same page than some people would like to paint.
There is a commitment on behalf of the Pakistanis that they need to be able to do more. But they have a complex situation, and they're trying to do a lot of different things at once, focusing primarily on helping prevent terrorists from establishing a safe haven in that area, but also worried about their people.
RAY SUAREZ: Perino said the president offered $115 million in food aid to Pakistan over two years.
It was a rough day on Wall Street. Stocks sank over fears of more turmoil in the credit and housing markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 239 points to close at 11,131. The Nasdaq fell 46 points to close at 2,264. And oil prices didn't help, gaining more than $1 to settle closer to $125 a barrel.
But the government reported gasoline has dropped just below $4 dollars a gallon for the first time in eight weeks.
General Motors announced today it's slashing production by another 117,000 vehicles. The automaker cited lagging sales of trucks and SUVs. A spokesman said GM's overall production cuts for this year now amount to 300,000 vehicles.
The economy was topic A in the presidential campaign today. Democrat Barack Obama met with high-profile economic advisers in Washington. He called for a second stimulus package.
Republican John McCain was in Bakersfield, California. He called for more off-shore drilling and more nuclear plants to create jobs and energy.
McCain also had a tiny spot removed from his face as a precaution, the campaign says. The senator has had several skin cancers over the years.
The next president will inherit the largest budget deficit in U.S. history. The Bush administration announced today the red ink will reach $482 billion in fiscal year 2009. That doesn't include about $80 billion in war costs.
Instead, Budget Director Jim Nussle said, the economic slowdown and stimulus payments were the main factors.
JIM NUSSLE, Director, Office of Management and Budget: Earlier this year, the president and Congress on a bipartisan basis correctly agreed that action was needed for our economy and made a deliberate and conscious decision to temporarily increase the deficit in order to get money into the people's hands and spur consumption.
The determination was made that getting the economy back on track was a higher priority than immediate deficit reduction.
RAY SUAREZ: The administration also projected economic growth will rebound somewhat next year, and it said inflation will ease substantially.
The Justice Department today found two former officials illegally let politics shape hiring decisions. The department's inspector general reported former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was largely unaware of the actions by his top aides. The report said Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson discriminated against job applicants who weren't Republican or conservative. We'll have more on this story later in the program tonight.
The president of Iran voiced hope today of finding common ground with world powers on Iran's nuclear program. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC News any progress would depend on U.S. policy. He said, 'If the approach changes, we will be facing a new situation, and the response by the Iranian people will be a positive one.'
In Washington, a State Department spokesman called the remarks 'more rhetoric.'
There was word today that talks on sharing power in Zimbabwe have broken off. Representatives of President Robert Mugabe left the meetings in South Africa, according to wire service accounts. The reports said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai also left. Opposition officials said negotiations deadlocked on Mugabe's insistence that he remain president.
