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CAIRO (AP) — Egypt formally asked the International Monetary Fund for a $4.8 billion loan on Wednesday, seeking a desperately needed rescue package for its faltering economy but raising the possibility of painful restructuring in a country still reeling since its revolution more than 18 months ago. The loan deal, which Egypt says it will reach by the end of the year, presents a major test to the Muslim Brotherhood-rooted president, Mohammed Morsi, the country's first ever freely elected leader, brought to power after the fall of Hosni Mubarak. The IMF has avoided making specific conditions for a loan but...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fear and anger about the U.S. economy may cost the Republicans big-time in next month's election -- and give Democrats a 60-seat majority in the 100-member U.S. Senate for the first time 30 years. With their polls rising, Democrats have a plausible shot at gaining nine seats to hit 60, which could provide the votes needed to clear Republican procedural hurdles and move quickly to keep campaign promises. "Imagine what we can accomplish with a filibuster-proof Senate majority," Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who polls show is leading Republican rival John McCain, wrote in a fund-raising appeal...

HAVANA (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had an "animated and warm" meeting with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro during a visit to Havana, state-run media said on Tuesday, but no photos or videos of the left-wing allies were made public. Chavez, upon arrival on Monday for a two-day visit, told reporters he would meet with top Cuban officials including the ailing, 81-year-old Castro and Raul Castro, Fidel's younger brother, who took over as president in February. "Now we have our team, it's the same team," he said, referring to the close ties he has forged between oil-rich Venezuela and...

WASHINGTON - Sen. Tim Johnson (news, bio, voting record) is taking part in three hours of physical, occupational and speech therapy every day, and his tracheotomy tube has been removed from his throat, doctors said Friday. Johnson, who suffered a brain hemorrhage over a month ago, has been working with parallel bars and participating in speech therapy, including naming objects, his office said in a statement. That includes strengthening exercises to gain mobility on his right side, said Dr. Philip Marion, head of rehabilitation at George Washington University Hospital. Johnson's right side was weak when he arrived at the hospital...

<p>HAVANA — Fidel Castro said in a statement Tuesday that he has lost more than 41 pounds since he had intestinal surgery but added that the "most critical moment" was behind him.</p> <p>The Cuban leader announced on July 31 that he was stepping aside as president to recover from the operation. He said he was temporarily turning over power to his 75-year-old brother Raul, the defense minister.</p>

Georgia Guard Troops Help Ailing Iraqi Teen Soldiers from the 48th Brigade Combat Team arranged for an ailing Iraqi teen to be evaluated at a combat support hospital and then transfered to Baghdad for additional treatment. By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Britt Smith 48th Brigade Combat Team CAMP ADDER, AN NASIRIYAH, Iraq, Jan. 6, 2006 — In the middle of a country where medical care is tough to come by, a new bond was recently forged between Georgia’s Army National Guard soldiers and local Iraqi citizens. Ibitisam Hameed Kassar, a 17-year-old Iraqi girl from the An Nasiriyah area, was...

LANSING, Mich. - The state parole board rejected a request to pardon assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian or commute his sentence, despite warnings that he is in grave condition. The 77-year-old former doctor is serving a 10- to 25-year prison sentence for murder for giving a fatal injection of drugs in 1998 to a man with Lou Gehrig's disease. Kevorkian is not eligible for parole until 2007. His lawyer, Mayer Morganroth, warned last month that Kevorkian was in "dire shape" and might not live that long. Kevorkian suffers from high blood pressure, arthritis, cataracts, osteoporosis and Hepatitis C, the lawyer said....

BURBANK, Calif. - With his popularity at an all-time low, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turned Monday to another political star - Sen. John McCain - to help sell his November ballot proposals to a skeptical public. In a brief, joint appearance with the governor in a hotel conference room, the Arizona senator urged California voters to support the four initiatives backed by Schwarzenegger on the special election ballot. They said little about the specifics of the proposals and instead depicted them broadly as an important step in efforts to make government more accountable. "I have campaigned for reform efforts all over...

Flu outbreak hits ailing French health sector December 01 2003 at 03:12PM Paris - The French government, criticised for reacting too slowly to a deadly August heatwave, has urged Paris hospitals to take swift emergency measures to fight an epidemic of flu and gastroenteritis. More than half a million people in France, including many children, have contracted flu, gastroenteritis or bronchitis in recent weeks in an unusually early winter flu outbreak - and experts say the triple-epidemic has yet to reach its peak.Media coverage of crowded hospital waiting rooms and off-duty staff being recalled to cope with the influx may...

Ailing Japanese economy runs out of options As Japan's debt rating sinks to the same level as Botswana's, it may be time for some unconventional medicine, writes Mark Tran. Tuesday May 14, 2002 International credit rating agencies are about to downgrade Japan's rating to below Botswana's despite howls of protests from the world's second largest economy. It will be the latest humiliation for a country that not so long ago was seen as poised to overtake the US as the world's leading economic power. The idea seems laughable now but in the late 1980s and early 1990s, pseudo experts churned...