• Suicide blasts kill 17 as Iraqi council OKs pact 12/4/2008, 12:54 p.m. PST
BAGHDAD (AP) — Suicide bombers killed 17 people — including two American soldiers — and wounded more than 100 in a string of blasts in two Iraqi cities Thursday as a timetable for withdrawing all U.S. troops won final government approval.

• LBJ Library releases last of recordings 12/4/2008, 12:49 p.m. PST
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — In the last months of his administration, President Lyndon Johnson voiced worry over the Vietnam peace talks and stridently suggested that associates of Richard Nixon were attempting to keep South Vietnam away from the table until after the 1968 election, recordings of telephone conversations released Thursday show.

• BBC: 6 gunmen shot and killed at New Delhi airport 12/4/2008, 12:46 p.m. PST
LONDON (AP) — The British Broadcasting Corp. is reporting that six gunmen have been shot and killed by Indian security forces at New Delhi's main international airport. The report on the BBC Web site Thursday was attributed to airport officials.

• NYC high school freshman hit, killed by school bus 12/4/2008, 12:44 p.m. PST
NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities say a high school freshman in New York City has been struck and killed by a school bus.

• More problems for major post-9/11 security program 12/4/2008, 12:37 p.m. PST
WASHINGTON (AP) — A seaports security program spurred by the 9/11 attacks has hit yet another snag, causing concern that commerce could be slowed during the busy holiday season.

• Gun club, police chief indicted in boy's Uzi death 12/4/2008, 12:36 p.m. PST
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Three men, including a small-town police chief, were indicted Thursday on involuntary manslaughter counts in the gun-fair death of an 8-year-old who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi that a prosecutor said he never should have been allowed to handle.

• European court makes landmark ruling on DNA rights 12/4/2008, 12:21 p.m. PST
LONDON (AP) — Europe's top human rights court Thursday struck down a British law that allows the government to store DNA and fingerprints from people with no criminal record — a landmark decision that could force Britain to destroy nearly 1 million samples on its database.

• Fines sought against Mo. governor over records law 12/4/2008, 12:17 p.m. PST
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Special court-appointed investigators are seeking fines against Gov. Matt Blunt, alleging he "knowingly and purposely" violated Missouri's public-records law by denying access to e-mails.

• US agents arrest 3 for cash smuggling in PR 12/4/2008, 12:17 p.m. PST
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.S. agents say they caught three men trying to fly out of Puerto Rico with $230,000 hidden in their luggage.

• Israeli soldiers drag settlers out of Hebron house 12/4/2008, 12:14 p.m. PST
HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — Israeli soldiers and police stormed a disputed building in the biblical city of Hebron on Thursday, dragging out 250 young settlers in a raid meant to send a warning to Jewish extremists fighting to keep what they see as God-promised land.

• Afghan women leaders face growing Taliban threats 12/4/2008, 12:09 p.m. PST
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The women gave a news conference but requested that no one take pictures of their faces. The office of one of them asked reporters not to publish her name.

• Putin makes crude outburst about Georgian leader 12/4/2008, 12:05 p.m. PST
MOSCOW (AP) — Reveling in his reputation for earthy language, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin unabashedly confirmed a crude outburst against Georgia's president and even took the tirade a step further Thursday.

• UN says poor nations need $130B for climate change 12/4/2008, 12:04 p.m. PST
POZNAN, Poland (AP) — The U.N. climate change organization has said the world's poor countries will need $130 billion dollars a year by 2030 to help them adapt to global warming and curb their carbon emissions.

• Minn. teen girls charged in nursing home abuse 12/4/2008, 11:54 a.m. PST
ALBERT LEA, Minn. (AP) — Two teenage girls who worked at a nursing home have been charged with abuse, accused of taunting, spitting on and groping residents who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

• Zimbabwe declares national health emergency 12/4/2008, 11:49 a.m. PST
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe declared a national emergency over a cholera epidemic and the collapse of its health care system, and state media reported Thursday the government is seeking more international help to pay for food and drugs to combat the crisis.

• NY court: Big city guns can equal stiff sentence 12/4/2008, 11:36 a.m. PST
NEW YORK (AP) — A Manhattan appeals court says federal judges can give extra-stiff penalties to people who help bring illegal guns to big cities.

• Ex-FBI agent denies role in 1982 slaying 12/4/2008, 11:33 a.m. PST
MIAMI (AP) — Despite his conviction for murder, former FBI agent John Connolly angrily insisted Thursday he is innocent of passing sensitive information to Boston mobsters that led to the 1982 slaying in Miami of a former gambling executive.

• Boot Knut: Berlin's star polar bear faces eviction 12/4/2008, 11:29 a.m. PST
BERLIN (AP) — Knut the superstar polar bear turns two on Friday looking nothing like the button-eyed ball of white fluff who captured hearts around the world.

• Flood washes away some qualms over barrier project 12/4/2008, 11:26 a.m. PST
VENICE, Italy (AP) — The luxury Bauer hotel was inundated by calls of concern and cancellations this week — but was spared the floodwaters that swamped most of the city.

• Mexico sends Cubans home under new accord 12/4/2008, 11:26 a.m. PST
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico is sending illegal Cuban migrants home for the first time under a new immigration accord.

• Testimony doesn't link US soldier to 4 dead Iraqis 12/4/2008, 11:17 a.m. PST
VILSECK, Germany (AP) — A defense lawyer told a military court Thursday that witnesses had provided insufficient evidence to support charges that a U.S. Army sergeant was involved in killing four Iraqi men found bound, blindfolded, shot and dumped in a Baghdad canal.

• OJ judge known for stern lectures, stiff sentences 12/4/2008, 11:12 a.m. PST
LAS VEGAS (AP) — If O.J. Simpson is looking for a break from the Nevada judge who will sentence him for kidnapping and armed robbery, he may be in the wrong courtroom.

• Va. man invites disadvantaged to inauguration 12/4/2008, 11:08 a.m. PST
WASHINGTON (AP) — A businessman who bought a $1 million inauguration ball package plans to invite disadvantaged people, wounded soldiers and others to the prime event on Pennsylvania Avenue.

• OSCE gives cool response on Russian security pact 12/4/2008, 11:04 a.m. PST
HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Russian plans for a European security pact drew a cool response from a long-established, trans-Atlantic group Thursday, with the U.S. saying there was no need for a new "security architecture."

• LT APNewsAlert 12/4/2008, 10:59 a.m. PST
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Official: Mexico sends home first of fleeing Cubans under new bilateral immigration accord.