1.   Calling education crucial to the reduction of global poverty, international finance ministers approved a World Bank plan on Sunday aimed at enrolling all young children in elementary school.

2.   That left passage of the trade bill, which Clinton has called crucial for the nation, increasingly in the hands of Gingrich and the majority Republicans.

3.   The president called on Republicans to take the loan programs off the chopping block, calling them crucial to young people trying to build a better life.

4.   The teacher-hiring proposal, which Democrats call crucial to improving schooling for young children, has put Republicans in a tough spot.

5.   American officials call them crucial to security in Asia but most Okinawans want them closed, saying they cause too much crime and nuisance.

6.   Lee cited free trade and U.S.-China relations, which he called crucial to Asian stability, as examples.

7.   Mahathir calls tolerance crucial.