G.M. executives are said to have approached Ford about a possible merger in July, but Ford rejected the idea and ended the discussions last month.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/business/12auto.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/business/12auto.html" border="0"//a/span

States are moving to rein in programs that reimburse film producers for all manner of expenditures from the salaries of stars to meals for the crew.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/us/12incentives.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/us/12incentives.html" border="0"//a/span

The new approach, which would have the government inject capital directly into banks, is one that administration officials had publicly opposed.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/business/12imf.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/business/12imf.html" border="0"//a/span

John McCain’s contradictory proposals are evidence to some of his independence, but others see opportunism.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/us/politics/12mccain.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/us/politics/12mccain.html" border="0"//a/span

Mr. Haider was a controversial and charismatic far-right politician known for his strong anti-immigrant and anti-European Union stances.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/world/europe/12haider.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/world/europe/12haider.html" border="0"//a/span

Responding to demands for a crackdown on corruption, Hamid Karzai named as his interior minister a former official of Afghanistan’s Communist-era secret police.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/world/asia/12afghan.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/world/asia/12afghan.html" border="0"//a/span

Barack Obama is seeking to capitalize on a devoted grass-roots enthusiasm and an unprecedented investment of money to push the get-out-the-vote effort to a new level.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/us/politics/12ground.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/us/politics/12ground.html" border="0"//a/span

Saying North Korea had agreed to adhere to nuclear concessions, the U.S. announced it would remove the country from a list of sponsors of terrorism.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/world/asia/12terror.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/world/asia/12terror.html" border="0"//a/span

At a rally this morning, the Democratic nominee gives a nod to his opponent's request that supporters be respectful after angry outbursts and accusations at McCain-Palin rallies this week.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/obama-thanks-mccain-for-toning-down-supporters/index.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/obama-thanks-mccain-for-toning-down-supporters/index.html" border="0"//a/span

Five people, including three children, were killed after a fire swept through a sixth-floor apartment in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/nyregion/12fire.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/nyregion/12fire.html" border="0"//a/span

The United States is dropping North Korea from a terrorism blacklist in the latest attempt to salvage a nuclear disarmament deal before President Bush’s term ends.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-US-Koreas-Nuclear.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-US-Koreas-Nuclear.html" border="0"//a/span

The president said that industrial leaders gathered in Washington would do everything necessary to address the financial crisis.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/business/11cnd-bush.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/business/11cnd-bush.html" border="0"//a/span

Robert Mugabe unilaterally declared that his party would retain the most powerful government ministries.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=eb54a725f4ed49bda4c939b004c9c010u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/world/africa/12zimbabwe.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=eb54a725f4ed49bda4c939b004c9c010u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/world/africa/12zimbabwe.html" border="0"//a /span

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, who is one-sixteenth Cherokee, is at the forefront of the Heisman Trophy conversation, but he finds his role as the tribe’s hero somewhat awkward.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/sports/ncaafootball/11bradford.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/sports/ncaafootball/11bradford.html" border="0"//a/span

As the final stop on the subprime lending train, the Civil Court has become the 21st-century debtors’ court.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/nyregion/11about.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/nyregion/11about.html" border="0"//a/span

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has allocated three important government ministries to his ZANU-PF party, threatening a power-sharing deal.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-us-zimbabwe-politics.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-us-zimbabwe-politics.html" border="0"//a/span

Gunmen opened fire in a bar, killing 11 people, and the body of a newspaper editor was found shot dead on the side of a highway in separate attacks, police said.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-LT-Mexico-Violence.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-LT-Mexico-Violence.html" border="0"//a/span

Jörg Haider, the leader of Austria’s far right, was killed in a car accident, the national news agency APA reported.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/world/europe/11austria.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/world/europe/11austria.html" border="0"//a/span

Daisuke Matsuzaka was challenging hitters, mixing his fastball and changeup to stifle the Rays without a hit for the first six innings.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/sports/baseball/11alcs.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/sports/baseball/11alcs.html" border="0"//a/span

As the polls have shown Barack Obama gaining ground, John McCain has been veering from message to message.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/us/politics/11campaign.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/us/politics/11campaign.html" border="0"//a/span

The United States and six other nations agreed to a plan to rescue the financial industry, but fell short of offering concrete steps to backstop bank lending.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/business/11global.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/business/11global.html" border="0"//a/span

General Motors is in preliminary talks about a possible merger with Chrysler, a deal that could drastically remake the auto industry.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/business/11auto.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/business/11auto.html" border="0"//a/span

It's been 17 months since I picked up where Tom Zeller left off, filling this blog of many interests.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/starting-a-lede-and-finishing-it/index.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/starting-a-lede-and-finishing-it/index.html" border="0"//a/span

Gov. Sarah Palin abused the powers of her office by pressuring subordinates to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired, a investigation has concluded.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/us/politics/11trooper.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/us/politics/11trooper.html" border="0"//a/span

The Phillies lead the best-of-seven series, two games to none, and are halfway toward their first World Series appearance in 15 years.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/sports/baseball/11nlcs.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/sports/baseball/11nlcs.html" border="0"//a/span

Jon Winkelried, Goldman Sachs's co-president and co-chief operating officer, is shopping his two lots on the tony Massachusetts resort for $55 million, The Daily News Tribune reported.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/a-55-million-ocean-view-courtesy-of-goldmans-winkelried/index.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/a-55-million-ocean-view-courtesy-of-goldmans-winkelried/index.html" border="0"//a/span

Through reporting and polling, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Oregon undergo shifts in electoral strength.br/br/span class="advertisement" a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/changes-shift-toward-obama-in-electoral-map/index.html"img src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?x=ba6699eca028480181189b6a17db1074u=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/changes-shift-toward-obama-in-electoral-map/index.html" border="0"//a/span