President Bush to project lower budget deficit

(Reuters) - A deficit for fiscal 2007 in that range would mark a decline from the $248 billion gap recorded last year. The fresh estimate will be unveiled at 1 p.m. EDT in the administration's "midsession review" of the budget.




When President George W. Bush sent Congress his annual budget in February, he forecast that this year's deficit would decrease only slightly to $244 billion.


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Court rejects race as factor in school programs

(Reuters) - By a 5-4 vote on the last day of its term, the court's conservative majority struck down voluntary programs adopted in Seattle and Louisville, Kentucky, to attain racial diversity in public school classrooms.




The ruling added to a string of decisions this term in which President George W. Bush's two appointees -- Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito -- have shifted the court sharply to the right on divisive social issues like abortion.


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UPDATE 3-U.S. Senate deals major blow to immigration bill

(Reuters) - WASHINGTON, June 7 - A White House-backed bill to
revamp U.S. immigration laws stalled in the U.S. Senate on
Thursday, handing President George W. Bush a major legislative
setback.




The sharply divided Senate refused to limit debate on the
fragile compromise hammered out by a bipartisan group of
senators and the White House. The vote was 45-50, 15 short of
the 60 votes needed to advance significant legislation in the
100-member body toward a final vote.


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Emission Permits in Europe Jump After Bush Calls for Climate Change Target

(Bloomberg) -- European Union carbon-dioxide permits
jumped after President George W. Bush proposed a new round of
talks to set targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Emission permits for delivery next year rose 1.1 euros, or
5 percent, to 23.25 euros ($31.27) a metric ton, according to
prices from broker Spectron on Bloomberg.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News