While violence has declined noticeably in Baghdad, day-to-day life for Iraqis is grim, U.S. News Associate Editor Alex Kingsbury told Jon Stewart on The Daily Show last night. Kingsbury, who recently returned from his second reporting assignment in Iraq, described Baghdad neighborhoods where there is raw sewage in the streets and goats graze on garbage from toppled bins. Kingsbury's "Iraq Journal" series has reported on how American troops and Iraqi citizens cope with the difficulties in the country five years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. more >>

JPMorgan Chase & Co. struck a deal and will absorb Bear Stearns, once one of its largest rivals on Wall Street, for a shockingly low price of $2 per share. Bear Stearns bet on mortgage-backed investments and is now the first major bank to be undone by the subprime mortgage market's collapse. Unwinding Bear Stearns, the nation's fifth-biggest investment house, should provide insight into what other financial institutions might have on their books. more >>

This morning a parked car exploded in a commercial district in central Baghdad, killing 11 and wounding 57. After several months of relative calm, today's bombing was the latest in a string of attacks to hit Iraq's capital. It took place in an area just outside the heavily fortified Green Zone. more >>

When it comes to problems with water, sewage, trash, and more, Brig. Gen. James Milano is on the case. more >>