Mortgage help...Fixing health care...Not much holiday help

Washington (AP) A House panel wants to help struggling homeowners. A new plan proposed by the government is being criticized for not going nearly far enough. It applies just to loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but those account for only about 20 percent of delinquent loans.

WASHINGTON (AP) President-elect Obama is keeping his distance from world leaders and will not be attending this week's economic summit at the White House. There's a lot of interest in him from other world leaders but with President Bush still in office, Obama is sticking with his one-president-at-a-time stance.

WASHINGTON (AP) The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee is pushing a plan to fix the nation's health care system. Montana Senator Max Baucus' plan is similar to President-elect Obama's. He doesn't get into costs, but Baucus says in the long run, doing nothing would cost a lot more.

WASHINGTON (AP) The number of toy and children's products recalled for lead has dropped substantially this year, after 2007's record surge. But the number of recalls are still far above what they were in 2005 and 2006.

NEW YORK (AP) The retail industry is being bombarded with applications for holiday help this year. The problem is, they aren't doing much hiring. In fact, retailers have already shed nearly 300,000 jobs this year.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 11-12-08 0450CST | save this article / add to your favorites list