CNN news 2009-02-16 加文本

I'm Asieh Namdar, at the cnn.com newsroom in Atlanta, here is a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

The battle over the 787-billion-dollar stimulus bill officially ends after President's Day. President Obama says he will sign the bill into law in Denver On Tuesday. He is calling the measure "a major milestone in the recovery of the US economy." Administration officials say the President wants to get away from the politics of Washington and sign the bill in an area hit hard by the recession. They say Denver is a place that will see the bill's benefits in hiring workers.

US automakers' survival may depend on their race against time to meet the deadline. They have until Tuesday to submit restructuring plans proving they can repay billions of dollars in federal loans. If not, the government may let them fail. Under the original bailout deal, the automakers must make concessions with their labor union.

A former Hospital worker in New York is charged with murder after going on a shooting spree. The attacks happened early yesterday morning. Authorities say 34-year-old Frank Garcia gunned down 4 people at two different locations including the unthinkable - shooting a mother of two in front of her children.

Iraq is sending some plainclothes military members to protect Shiite pilgrims during their annual pilgrimage to Karbala. Some 5,000 of those military personnel were deployed south of Baghdad yesterday. At least 60 pilgrims were killed in bomb attacks during the past three days. So far no one has claimed responsibility but al-Qaeda and other extremists may be trying to re-ignite fighting between rival Sunni and Shiite groups.

Hillary Clinton will travel to Asia today. It's her first trip abroad as Secretary of State. Typically new Secretaries of State have made their initial overseas trip to Europe or the Middle East but she says the Obama administration wants to develop a broader and deeper relationship with Asia, a region that has felt overlooked by the United States. Clinton's itinerary includes Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China.(www.hXen.com)

And those are the headlines this hour, for more on these stories and other news of the day, cnn is your source online, on TV, or when you're on the go.