Bush seeks $770m to fight food crisis

President Bush urged Congress yesterday to approve $770 million to help alleviate dramatically escalating food prices that threaten widespread hunger and increasing social unrest around the world. In a midafternoon appearance at the White House, Bush announced he is asking lawmakers to approve the additional funds for global food aid and development programs. (AP)

ATLANTA - Measles outbreaks in several states have led to more than 70 cases so far this year, the worst in six years, health officials said yesterday. Most of the cases have been traced to outbreaks overseas and are mainly in children who were not vaccinated for religious or other reasons, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since measles vaccinations began in the early 1960s, cases have dramatically declined in the United States. So far this year, the CDC has confirmed reports of 64 cases in nine states. There were no deaths, but 14 people were hospitalized, said Curtis Allen, CDC spokesman. That count doesn't include Washington state, where eight cases were reported this week. (AP)

CHICAGO - Thousands of chanting, flag-waving activists rallied in cities across the country yesterday, attempting to reinvigorate calls for immigration reform in a presidential election year in which the economy has taken center stage. From Washington to Miami to Los Angeles, activists demanded citizenship opportunities for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States and an end to raids and deportations. Turnout has fallen sharply since the first nationwide rallies in 2006, when more than 1 million people - at least 400,000 in Chicago alone - clogged streets and brought downtown traffic to a standstill. (AP)

FALMOUTH - A school bus and a dump truck crashed yesterday along a road with hairpin turns, killing a 16-year-old student and injuring 12 people in northern Kentucky, police said. The collision occurred shortly after 7 a.m. on Highway 22 in Pendleton County, a rural farmland area about 40 miles south of Cincinnati. Ten students and the drivers were treated at a hospital and released, officials said. . Daniel Wood of Falmouth died in the crash, the coroner said. (AP)