USA

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress Thursday that the current global financial crisis is a "once-in-a-century credit tsunami" that policymakers did not anticipate. He also blamed soaring mortgage foreclosures, which grew more than 70 percent during the third quarter, on overeager investors.

This week's search of Texas prisons has turned up 13 cellphones in the possession of inmates, authorities have announced of the illicit activity. The systemwide shakedown occurred after the disclosure that a death-row prisoner had used a smuggled cellphone to call a state senator and shared the phone with nine other inmates.

To satisfy the Pentagon's push for greater use of robotic planes, the Air Force said Wednesday it's launching a program to train 1,100 pilots to remotely fly the drones over Iraq and Afghanistan. The goal is to have 50 Predators operating continuously by September 2011, up from 30 today. They do surveillance for ground troops and fire missiles.

The US might be forced to end its military operations in Iraq if the Iraqis don't approve a newly negotiated security deal by Dec. 31, when the current pact expires, the Bush administration warned Wednesday. The White House said Iraq's security forces aren't ready to go it alone yet.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will return to teaching at

The nation's only blind marching band, at the Ohio State School for the Blind, will make history by marching in the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif., the band learned this week. It has 17 student members and some alumni. Sighted assistants help guide the group.

As part of its global marketing, the National Football League will play its third regular-season game since 2005 on foreign soil Sunday. The London game will pit the New Orleans Saints against the San Diego Chargers in 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium.

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