Daily Briefing: U.S. scrambles to keep tense Kirkuk from igniting

Date: Tue, 15 May 2007

NEWS

U.S. scrambles to keep Kirkuk from igniting
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When a bomb goes off here, Lt. Col. Michael Browder's job is to make it
seem
like the attack never happened. By making an extraordinary effort to
repair
damage after such explosions, the U.S. military hopes to soothe public
anger
and keep Kirkuk from becoming Iraq's next big flash point for violence.

Miami tops rude drivers list
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For the second consecutive year, rude Miami drivers have earned the city
the
title of worst road rage in a survey released Tuesday.

Sick kids given 'soundtrack of their lives'
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On Thursday, 15,000 New York schoolchildren will sing, along with Bob
McGrath
of "Sesame Street," to record a song all about 7-year-old Ronald
Sterling. The
event marks the 12,000th song produced by the Songs of Love Foundation,
a non-
profit group that creates personalized compositions for children and
teens who
are chronically or terminally ill, are developmentally disabled or have
serious psychological or psychiatric problems. Each song has its own
melody
and lyrics that describe the child's interests, family, friends and
pets.

MONEY

Chrysler sold in unprecedented auto deal
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DaimlerChrysler said Monday it will sell more than 80% of its
money-losing
Chrysler Group to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP,
unwinding its nearly decade-old deal to merge the U.S. brand with
Mercedes-
Benz.

Gas hits record, likely to stay high
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The U.S. average gasoline price set a record Monday, eclipsing highs
seen
following Hurricane Katrina. A number of analysts, including those at
Oil
Price Information Service and A.G. Edwards, expect the run-up in prices
will
end soon. But they do not expect prices to fall much this summer and
warn
another increase at the pump may come later in the season.

Thomson-Reuters merger challenges Bloomberg
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Reuters Group PLC and Thomson Corp. said Tuesday that they have agreed
on
terms for a merger to create one of the world's largest financial news
providers.