WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush yesterday ordered that the nation's military airspace be temporarily opened to commercial airliners, creating so-called Thanksgiving express lanes in a bid to curb delays for holiday travelers.

Routes will open along the East Coast, in New Mexico and Nevada where assorted military installations control airspace, over the Rockies, and in Phoenix and Los Angeles.

The president said the administration also was coordinating with FAA and the Transportation Security Administration to make more staff available to speed check-in and boarding and to help passengers affected by cancellations and delays.

The military airspace opens up starting Nov. 25 and will remain available through the morning of Dec. 1.

Nestle Prepared Food Co. has announced a recall on three of its Lean Cuisine entrees. The entrees might contain small pieces of blue plastics. Those meals are: Pesto Chicken with Bow Tie Pasta, Chicken Mediterranean and Chicken Tuscan, all produced from August 18 to October 27. Consumers can find out whether their meals are affected by looking at the bar code or UPC label on the boxes and calling Lean Cuisine at (800) 993-8625.

WASHINGTON -- Powerful anti-psychotic medicines are being used far too cavalierly in children, and federal drug regulators must do more to warn doctors of these medicines' substantial risks, a panel of federal drug experts said yesterday.

From 1993 through the first three months of 2008, 1,207 children given Risperdal suffered serious problems, including 31 who died. At least 11 of the deaths were children whose treatment with Risperdal was unapproved by the FDA. Once the agency approves a medicine for a particular condition, doctors are free to prescribe it for other problems.

WASHINGTON -- Leaders from 11 transit agencies pleaded with Congress for help yesterday as long-term financing deals with investors collapse amid the global credit crisis. The officials warned that 31 of the nation's largest transit systems could face at least $2 billion in payments in the coming months if hundreds of the deals go bad. The fallout could cripple rail and bus systems at a time when ridership is soaring.

Insurers such as American International Group Inc. had backed the long-term deals, but downgrades of AIG's credit have put many of the transactions in default. Transit officials want lawmakers to request the U.S. Treasury to guarantee the deals instead.