Morning Buzz: April 16, 2007

This morning's top stories:

• Update (9:55 a.m.): Sallie Mae, the gargantuan student loan lender, has agreed to sell the company to a group of investors led by a private equity firm, J.C. Flowers & Co., for about $25 billion.
• The influential Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Monday called on followers in the Iraqi parliament and cabinet to abandon their posts. The move would deal a significant blow to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who relied on support from the Sadrists to gain office.
• President Bush will meet with legislative leaders from both parties on Wednesday to discuss the disputed defense supplemental spending bill that does not include timetables for U.S. troop withdrawal.
• An off-duty Northwest Airlines pilot was arrested Sunday in Port Huron, Michigan, for suspicion of driving under the influence of cocaine.
• A consortium of nine automakers is soliciting proposals for a computer program that would function as a "virtual human," allowing more realistic simulations of the effect of crashes than dummies can provide.
• Protesters in Moscow and St. Petersburg clashed with police over the weekend during anti-Kremlin rallies.