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The Bush administration is taking steps toward rebuilding relations with a country it once said was part of an "axis of evil." President Bush announced Thursday that the United States is lifting some trade sanctions against North Korea and removing it from a list of countries that the U.S. considers state sponsors of terrorism.

A week after two hedge fund managers were arrested in connection with the subprime mortgage meltdown, federal prosecutors may add to the indictments against the former Bear Stearns financiers. Investigators are trying to determine whether the men misled banks including Merrill Lynch, Barclays and Bank of America.

Although many governments in South America boast that aggressive saving and thriving commodities trading have been a buffer against economic hard times, the turmoil in the U.S. financial industry is starting to deflate those arguments.

History was made Wednesday in Denver as a major political party for the first time nominated a black man to be president of the United States. Barack Obama will accept the nomination Thursday at the pary's convention. Early on, his campaign was propelled by his opposition to the Iraq war, but it succeeded for reasons well beyond the war.

President Obama blasted insurance giant AIG yesterday for plans to pay millions in executive bonuses. The multimillion dollar payouts are planned despite the company's dire financial health and its reliance on federal bailout funds. Money coach Alvin Hall and Alan Hughes, of Black Enterprise magazine, discuss whether the government can force AIG to suspend its plans to dole out the big bucks.

Barack Obama is wrapping up perhaps the most active week of his presidency thus far. Just days ago he signed into law the contentious $787 billion economic stimulus package, aimed at fixing the nation's deep financial woes. The act was followed by the unveiling of a $75 billion plan to curb growing home foreclosures.

Police in India have been conducting tests on two men accused in one of the most gruesome cases of serial rape and child murder in the country's history. The tests include administering so-called "narco-analysis" drugs — or, as some put it, "truth serum."

The new interim Iraqi Prime Minister announces the formation of a new security force to try to curb ongoing insurgent violence. But he did so as Islamic militants began attacking non-Islamic businesses such as liquor stores in the capital, a sign the struggle has become one for the very soul of the city. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

Many millions of Hindus are gathered along the shores of their holiest river, the Ganges, in one of the world's largest religious gatherings, the Kumbh Mela. Over a few weeks, up to 70 million Hindus swim in the chilly waters — many of them on what India's astrologers deem to be "auspicious" bathing days.

Pakistan's constitution has been suspended and its independent news media is under blackout orders after the country's leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, declared emergency rule. Musharraf made the announcement just before Pakistan's Supreme Court was to rule on his future as president.