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SAN FRANCISCO--Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of the nation's biggest, wealthiest state, began the grim parade last week. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Schwarzenegger said the credit crisis and the slowing economy had left his state suddenly short on the cash it needs to pay for its day-to-day operations. If tax revenues continue slowing and no willing lenders emerge in the frozen credit markets, California--a state "so large," Schwarzenegger wrote, "that [its] short-term cash flow needs exceed the entire budget of some states"--would need an emergency $7 billion loan. ...

MOSCOW--By any measure, Russia's stock markets have been on a sickening ride.

Women are worried. Very, very worried. About their stock investments, balloon mortgage payments, job security. Men are, of course, worried too, but economic stress could be taking a greater health toll on women, according to this survey of more than 2,500 people released yesterday by the American Psychological Association. (My colleague Liz Wolgemuth tells you why in this blog.) The survey found that 80 percent of folks say the economy is a significant source of stress, up from 66 percent in April. ...

The U.S. government's overall recommendations for physical activity announced earlier this week aren't terribly earth-shattering: Exercise moderately for 150 minutes a week and strength-train twice a week, and you'll reap substantial health benefits. (I wrote several years ago that the surgeon general and other groups such as the American College of Sports Medicine were already offering that same basic prescription.) But the new report is comprehensive, and in the details there are some tidbits that you might have missed.

SAN FRANCISCO--Health officials in California announced this week that they had revised the state's controversial marriage license, putting the words "bride" and "groom" back in the documents after being deluged by complaints from both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

I'll be curious to hear about the weapons that will be rolled out tomorrow at a press conference on combating healthcare-acquired infections. It has been billed as a first-ever event, with five leading healthcare organizations linking hands to announce a unified approach to reduce, ideally wipe out, infections in healthcare facilities. The five groups--the American Hospital Association, Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Joint Commission, and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America--have undeniable clout.

Dropping poll numbers, the increase in contested GOP states, and a lack of time to turn around the presidential election are leading to a deep concern among Republicans and inside John McCain's campaign that the Arizona senator won't be able to scratch back against Sen. Barack Obama by Election Day.

Does eating right make schoolchildren perform better? A team led by Arthur Agatston, a cardiologist and creator of the popular South Beach diet, presented findings at an Obesity Society meeting over the weekend showing that improving the nutritional quality of school meals bolstered the academic performance of students over a two-year period, in addition to lowering their weight and blood pressure. ...

John McCain has set off the harshest burst of attack politics in the presidential campaign so far.

A class of asthma medications called long-acting beta agonists, linked three years ago to worsening asthma and even death, is back on the agenda at the Food and Drug Administration. There was a burst of coverage after the FDA issued a public health advisory in 2005 saying that these medications were tied to a possible heightened risk of worsening wheezing, but then the issue faded. The agency plans to call another meeting on the safety of LABAs this fall or winter.

A recent survey of men with diabetes revealed an interesting tidbit of information: Men may not be as irresponsible and cavalier as they sometimes seem when it comes to their health--it's just that we need a little extra info to understand how to be healthy.

Many recent election polls have shown Barack Obama leading John McCain on the issue of healthcare. But a survey released this week found that, when the question is rephrased, that gap narrows dramatically.

Amid all the uncertainty on Wall Street because of the burgeoning financial crisis, there have been growing concerns about the potential fallout for emerging industries like renewable energy.

Renewed calls for building new nuclear reactors to cope with a worrisome energy future have become a popular theme on the campaign trail for candidates like John McCain, but any effort faces a serious obstacle--the moribund state of the nation's nuclear manufacturing industry.

Although the politically popular goal of financial aid simplification is getting more and more lip service lately, the reality is that financial aid applications and programs are likely to get only more complicated and frustrating, at least in the near future.

JERUSALEM--Lame-duck Prime Minister Ehud Olmert raised a lot of eyebrows by saying that in return for peace, Israel will have to give up virtually all the land it conquered in the 1967 Six Day War.

A bowl of cereal can be less healthful than a doughnut, according to a new ranking of kids' breakfast cereals published by Consumer Reports. Eleven cereals ranked by the venerable group had more sugar than a glazed Dunkin' Donut. The culprits include Kellogg's Honey Smacks (nee Sugar Smacks) and Post Golden Crisp, both of which get almost 60 percent of their calories from sugar. Talk about a sugar high!

Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, offered a grim assessment of the conflict this morning during a visit to Washington, saying that he doesn't yet see progress in large swaths of Afghanistan.

Democrats in Congress are proposing legislation to limit the authority of customs agents to search and duplicate Americans' laptops, PDAs, and other electronic devices at border crossings.

MOSCOW--A new chill is spreading among Russian bloggers following the death of the journalist-owner of an opposition website.

Though President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been visiting the United Nations in recent days--with meetings continuing this week for Rice--for their usual, intensive annual round of diplomacy, the behind-the-scenes buzz at the world body is focused on the relative decline of U.S. power in world affairs.

Years in the making, a new Medicare rule that takes effect at midnight tonight should make hospital care a little safer. Here's how: If the cost of treating a Medicare patient is pushed up because one of a defined set of avoidable problems happened on the hospital's watch--such as a fall, bedsore, or urinary tract infection that occurred or arose after the patient was admitted--the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will no longer reimburse the hospital for the additional expense. ...

The campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain are furiously spinning their own versions of the first presidential debate to make the case that their man won. But the initial polls suggest that Obama made the best impression and did the most for his candidacy, at least temporarily.

Amid questions over how much public opinion polls on the race between John McCain and Barack Obama are being affected by racial prejudice and the unpredictability of new-voter turnout, a new study on the youth vote and cellphones suggests there could be another gap in traditional opinion polls--one that could mean Obama has more support than other surveys estimate.

Stroke afflicts 700,000 people each year, but treatments available are far from ideal. TPA, a clot-busting drug, is the best bet so far, but it doesn't work for everybody. Here's the need-to-know on the latest options for stroke treatment and how to reduce your risk of stroke.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unleashed a PR blitzkrieg this week to urge about 85 percent of Americans to get vaccinated against the flu. The agency expanded its recommendations to include yearly shots for all children ages 6 months to 18 years and also calls for pregnant women to be vaccinated, along with healthcare workers and those over 50. A spate of news stories with headlines like "Flu shots: What's your excuse?" and "Time for flu shots, now for 6-month-olds too" tells me that journalists swallowed the CDC's recommendations hook, line, and sinker. ...

The nation's ongoing financial crisis has thrown the presidential campaign into a combination of chaos and limbo, with John McCain and Barack Obama scrambling to show leadership, judgment, and political cunning even while they try to gain an advantage in the race for the White House.

Imagine you're a college student and you'll be voting for the first time in November. You hear from some that you're able to register to vote at your university address. You are warned by others that if you do, you could lose a scholarship, or health or car insurance, and you'll have to get a new driver's license, too. You consider voting absentee, only to be told by get-out-the-vote volunteers that your absentee ballot really counts only if the election is close.