NATIONAL STORIES

WASHINGTON (NBC) -- Everyone who's been to the store lately knows we're paying more for just about everything.

WASHINGTON (NBC) -- Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke appeared before House lawmakers.

LOS ANGELES (NBC) -- Two elderly women in Los Angeles will be spending the rest of their lives in jail.

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. troop surge in Iraq has ended.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican John McCain says "the status quo is not acceptable" in Afghanistan.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A judge in Los Angeles has sentenced two women to life in prison without parole for murdering two indigent men to collect insurance policies taken out on their lives.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- The outer bands from Hurricane Dolly are sweeping ashore in cities straddling the Texas-Mexico border.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush heads to the Pentagon this morning to discuss moving more U.S. forces to Afghanistan.

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is meeting with North Korea's top diplomat in Singapore, ending a four-year hiatus in cabinet-level contacts between the Bush administration and the Stalinist state over its nuclear program.

TEXAS (NBC) -- Texas is bracing for the arrival of Tropical Storm Dolly. The storm could reach hurricane strength Tuesday afternoon and is expected to reach land sometime Wednesday.

SAN JOSE, C.A. (AP) -- General Motors is looking down the road to solve potential problems for the electric cars it plans to roll out in about two years.

(NBC) -- As gas prices continue to rise, the price gap is closing for environmentally friendly fuels like biodiesel.

(NBC) -- Tuesday, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is in Jordan.

(NBC) -- After a week of dropping oil prices, crude was back up Monday as oil companies closely monitor the progress of Tropical Storm Dolly as it moves across the Gulf of Mexico.

KITTERY (AP) -- A Maine-based Coast Guard cutter has seized 10,000 pounds of cocaine while on patrol in the Caribbean.

IRAQ (NBC) -- Monday, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama was in Iraq.
HONOLULU (AP) -- Searchers looking for missing crew members from a crashed Air Force B-52 off Guam have located floating debris and an oil slick.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A joint appearance at a Yankees' game in New York may raise speculation that Rudy Giuliani is a serious contender for John McCain's running mate.

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- The Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI met with victims of clergy child sex abuse in Australia.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Life has gotten easier for California firefighters, but they're not hanging up their hoses yet.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Forecasters say Tropical Storm Cristobal is churning off the Southeast seaboard about 125 miles east of Charleston, South Carolina.

BERLIN (AP) -- Iraq's prime minister reportedly wants U.S. troops to leave Iraq "as soon as possible."

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States and Iraq have agreed to seek "a general time horizon" for further withdrawals of American troops from the war.

WALL STREET (NBC) -- This morning, some are wondering whether Wall Street can keep up its climb this week.

(NBC) -- Looking for ways to drive down fuel prices, Congress Thursday wrestled over a plan to force oil companies to step up exploration in the United States.

(NBC) -- Pilots for US Airways say they're being pressured to load less fuel on their aircraft.

HOLLYWOOD (NBC) -- Television will honor its best in September, and today, the Emmy nominations were announced.

WALL STREET (NBC) -- On Wall Street Thursday morning, traders were hoping for a repeat of yesterday's rally.