Army Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq - Army leaders are expressing increased alarm about the mental health of soldiers who would be sent back to the front again and again under plans that call for troop numbers to be sustained at high levels in Iraq for this year and beyond. Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress, according to an official Army survey of soldiers’ mental health.
Administrative problems fuel drop in U.S. legal immigration - The number of people who legally immigrated to the U.S. dropped 17 percent last year, largely because of administrative problems, according to a Homeland Security Department report. Citizenship and Immigration Services has been under fire after processing times grew because immigrants flooded the agency with applications filed last year in advance of dramatic increases in filing fees. The delays will keep some people from becoming citizens in time to vote in November.
Skybus becomes third airline this week to close - Skybus Airlines announced Friday it is shutting down its passenger flights -- becoming the third airline this week to cease operations. The low-cost carrier couldn't overcome "the combination of rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment," the company said Friday.
Mugabe 'preparing for poll war' - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has accused President Robert Mugabe of preparing to go to war against the country's people. He said Mr Mugabe was deploying troops and armed militias to intimidate voters ahead of a possible run-off poll. Mr Tsvangirai insisted he had won last weekend's presidential vote, the result of which has yet to be announced.
More experts now warn U.S. already in grip of recession - It's no longer a question of recession or not. Now it's how deep and how long. Workers' pink slips stacked ever higher in March as jittery employers slashed 80,000 jobs, the most in five years, and the national unemployment rate climbed to 5.1 percent. Job losses are nearing the staggering level of a quarter-million this year in just three months. For the third month in a row, total U.S. employment rolls shrank — often a telltale sign that the economy has jolted dangerously into reverse.
