BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. command has ordered changes in flight operations after four helicopters were shot down in the last two weeks, the chief military spokesman said Sunday, acknowledging for the first time that the aircraft were lost to hostile fire.

8:15 a.m. WASHINGTON -- President Bush sent a $2.9 trillion spending plan to a Democratic-controlled Congress on Monday, proposing to spend billions more to fight the war in Iraq while squeezing the rest of government to meet his goal of eliminating the deficit in five years.

NEW YORK — As the popularity of stomach surgery has skyrocketed among obese adults, a growing number of doctors are asking, “Why not children, too?”

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Small amounts of toxic ammonia leaked from a fluid line Sunday as two astronauts conducted the second of what could be a precedent-setting three spacewalks in nine days, upgrading the international space station’s cooling system.

SACRAMENTO — Leaving the congestion and sky-high housing prices of the San Francisco Bay area for a quiet retirement near the state capital seemed like a no-lose idea to Achilles Melendres.

WASHINGTON  — The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee sought to weaken support for a resolution opposing President Bush’s Iraq war strategy, saying Sunday that proponents are intellectually dishonest.