CNN news 2008-07-17 加文本

Hope you're having a great day. I'm Nicole Lapin at the cnn Center in Atlanta. Thanks so much for checking in with us today. Here is a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

Preparing for nuclear talks with Iran in a big shift in White House policy, Washington will now send Under Secretary of State William Burns to Switzerland this weekend to sit on a previously scheduled meeting between the European Union and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator. Officials say that Burns will listen in and reiterate the US position that Iran must suspend its uranium enrichment program before talks can even proceed.

Meanwhile another Iraqi province has been handed over to local security control. Coalition forces transferred authority to the largely Shiite Qadisiya province to Iraqis today. The move comes amid calls from Iraqis for the United States to come up with a troop withdrawal timetable.

And speculation is growing about whom Senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama will pick as his running mate. Former Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana both join Barack Obama today at Purdue University to talk about national security issues. Nunn and Bayh are widely believed to be on Obama's vice presidential short list.

Well, on the Republican side, Mitt Romney's vice presidential stock may be rising. Senator John McCain seems to suggest at a fundraiser in New Mexico this week that his former rival would make a good running mate.  McCain said (quote) "I'm appreciative every time I see Mitt on Television on my behalf".

This is coming at the same time as people are losing money and jobs are being shed. American Airlines is now laying off 200 pilots as part of an ongoing plan to trim company payroll by 8% or 6800 positions. American is also planning to cut flights and ground older gas-guzzling planes. Its parent company, by the way, AMR lost more than 1.4B,with a B(这里特地强调了一下1.4后面的B，强调损失之巨）, dollars in the second quarter of this year. But the performance was actually better than Wall Street had expected.(www.hXeN.com)

And those are the headlines at this hour. For more on those stories and other news of the day, cnn is always your source online, on TV, or on your cellphone. Take care.