U.S., allies launch drills in the Persian Gulf: "We're not here to escalate anything," says Navy captain
This week, United States and more than two dozen allies began conducting anti-mining naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz. They are stepping up their presence in the Persian Gulf in the wake of Iran threatening to mine the strait.
Pentagon Correspondent, Chris Lawrence is OutFront with the story.
Congress meets behind closed doors on fiscal cliff
After a five-week recess and then just eight days back on the job lawmakers are again hightailing it out of Washington until after the election. And this time they've left a pile of unfinished business, most pressing of which is the fiscal cliff. FULL POST
Housing starts up in August
Some good housing news Wednesday. Housing starts are up. According to the Commerce Department, construction of homes and apartments rose 2.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 750,000 last month.
Single-family housing starts alone rose 5.5% to an annual rate of 535,000 homes, the best pace since April 2010. That's why the National Association of Home Builders reported that builders' confidence is the highest since 2006.
Which brings us to tonight's number: 71%.
Despite the increases we are still 71% below the housing start high of January 2006. FULL POST
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