1. President Bush is slated to address the nation at 9 pm Eastern time Wednesday. On the agenda, his new approach for the war in Iraq which will reportedly include a surge of 20,000 US troops in the war-torn country.

2. Officials are probing the source of a mysterious gas-like odor wafting to the streets of Manhattan. Despite temporary transit disruptions and building evacuations, Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he is confident the air is safe to breathe.

3. Fierce 150-mile-per-hour winds whipped up fallen snow along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains creating near blizzard-like conditions and forcing the shutdown of various schools and roads.

4. And a group of researchers says it has discovered stem cells in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women. The find will allow scientists to sidestep the controversy over destroying embryos for research.
  
 notes:
1. be slated to : PHR
If something is slated to happen, it is planned to happen at a particular time or on a particular occasion.

2. waft : V-ERG 飘荡
If sounds or smells waft through the air, or if something such as a light wind wafts them, they move gently through the air.

3. whip up : PHR-V  鞭打 搅动
If a force such as the wind whips up dust or water, it makes it rise up.
...clouds of smoke and sand whipped up by a strong wind.

4. amniotic fluid : N
The fluid within the amnion(羊膜）that surrounds the fetus and protects it from injury.