BERNANKE
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called on the government Thursday to ramp up efforts to stem soaring home foreclosures, which are feeding into the country’s deep economic troubles.

ISRAEL-DISPUTED HOUSE
HEBRON, West Bank — Israeli security forces stormed a disputed house in the biblical city of Hebron on Thursday, dragging out some 250 Jewish settlers who barricaded themselves inside and hurled rocks, eggs and chemicals.

CONGRESS-AUTOS
WASHINGTON — Humbled U.S. automakers pleaded with Congress Thursday for an expanded $34 billion rescue package, but heard fresh skepticism in a bumpy encore appearance.

RETAIL SALES
NEW YORK — Retailers limped through a miserable November that even a surge of shopping after Thanksgiving couldn’t save, making it the weakest month since at least 1969 and deepening fears that the critical holiday period could be the most dismal in decades.

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN
WASHINGTON — More evidence of consumers’ weary state and the nation’s deteriorating job market came Thursday with reports that people continuing to draw unemployment benefits climbed to a 26-year high, while retail sales and orders to U.S. factories sank. By Economics Writer Jeannine Aversa.

With:
— AT&T-JOBS — AT&T to cut 12,000 jobs, 4 percent of staff
— FACTORY ORDERS — Factory orders plunge bigger-than-expected 5.1 percent in October, sharpest drop in 8 years.
— OIL PRICES — Oil hits near 4-year low around $46 as investors eye gloomy global economic outlook.

IRAQ
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s presidential council on Thursday approved a security pact that sets out a three-year timeframe for U.S. troops to leave, a spokesman said, the final step for the agreement to replace a U.N. mandate that expires Dec. 31. As the final legal hurdle to the deal was cleared, American soldiers and Iraqi civlians alike faced another round of deadly bombings by insurgents trying to chip away at recent security gains.

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe has declared a national emergency over a cholera epidemic and the collapse of its health care system, and is seeking more help to pay for food and drugs, the state-run newspaper said Thursday.

SPITZER-SLATE — If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em; Former New York Gov. Spitzer debuts as columnist for Slate.

FEATURES

ANIMAL ADVOCATES
GNS: As public attitudes toward animals change, so does the power of advocates for animal welfare on Capitol Hill. Lead by the growing lobbying power of the Humane Society of the United States, advocates scored several key victories in the just-completed Congress, including the first ever federal laws on dog fighting and curbing the import of puppies from overseas.

MELTDOWN-AUTOS
WASHINGTON — Ford Motor Co. is asking Congress for a $9 billion loan as a “backstop” to keep it from running short of cash in 2009, but says it doesn’t expect to need the money. Detroit’s automakers, making a second bid for $25 billion in funding, are presenting Congress with plans Tuesday to restructure their ailing companies and provide assurances that the funding will help them survive and thrive.

OBAMA-GOVERNORS
PHILADELPHIA — President-elect Barack Obama pledged quick work Tuesday on an economic recovery plan to include tax cuts and increased federal spending, and told the nation’s governors he wants their advice in designing it.

THAILAND-POLITICAL UNREST
BANGKOK, Thailand — Thailand’s prime minister was ousted Tuesday after weeks of protests closed the capital’s airports, stranding 300,000 travelers. Protesters promised to lift their siege, and international flights were expected to resume Friday.

INDIA-SHOOTING
MUMBAI, India — India picked up intelligence in recent months that Pakistan-based terrorists were plotting attacks against Mumbai targets, an official says, and the Indian government demands that Islamabad hand over suspected terrorists believed to be living in Pakistan.

PIRACY
NAIROBI, Kenya — Pirates chased and shot at a U.S. cruise liner with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel as it sailed along a corridor patrolled by international warships, a maritime official said Tuesday.

GEORGIA SENATE
ATLANTA — Georgia voters try to decide one of two unresolved U.S. Senate races that Democrats need to win for a 60-seat majority impervious to GOP filibusters.

SWEDEN-BODY SWAPPING
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Shaking hands with yourself is an amusing out-of-body experience. The illusion of having your stomach slashed with a kitchen knife, not so much. Both sensations, however, felt real to most participants in a Swedish science project exploring how people can be tricked into the false perception of owning another body.

IRAQ-TRIAL
Saddam’s notorious cousin “Chemical Ali” al-Majid sentenced to death in Shiite crackdown.

PEOPLE-BRITNEY SPEARS
Britney Spears tops Barack Obama and Miley Cyrus in Yahoo searches for the year.

KNUCKLEBALL GIRL
A 16-year-old girl signed with a regional baseball team Tuesday, becoming Japan’s first female professional baseball player.

FEATURES

TEST-ADS
USA TODAY: Tom Farber gives a lot of tests. He’s a calculus teacher, after all. So when administrators at his suburban San Diego high school last spring announced that the district was cutting spending on materials and supplies by nearly one-third, Farber at first thought he’d have to give fewer tests - at 3 cents a page, it adds up to more than $500 a year. His copying budget is $316. So taking a page from public bus ads, he started selling ads on his test papers: $10 for a quiz, $20 for a chapter test, $30 for a semester final. The idea raises lots of questions, but it’s just one way teachers are struggling to pay for supplies in an increasingly difficult environment.

‘FINE’
HEARST: Unless we’re talking about dining, wine or china, if I tell you something’s “fine,” it borders on bad. I, and many others, see this “fine” as an F-word, an acronym for Fouled-up, Insecure, Neurotic and Evasive. “In our culture, ’fine’ usually implies fair, but not good or great. If we want to say something is good or great, we choose uplifting, energizing words which translate to ’better than average.’ Fine implies average or mediocre,” says Jill Spiegel, author of “Jill Spiegel’s How To Talk To Anyone About Anything.”

GARAGE-SALES
HEARST: Forget Black Friday. The real bargains are at the nation’s most recession-proof industries: garage sales. From holiday decorations to gifts to something special for yourself, the venerable garage sale is thriving, allowing buyers and sellers alike to feel a little more secure in shaky economic times.

OBAMA-CABINET
CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama announced Monday that Robert Gates would remain as defense secretary, making President Bush’s Pentagon chief his own as he seeks to wind down the U.S. role in Iraq. Obama picked former campaign rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state.

STIMULUS
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is promising Congress will try to have a huge economic recovery bill ready for President-elect Barack Obama as soon as he takes office.

WALL STREET
NEW YORK — Investors uneasy about the holiday shopping season gave Monday back some of Wall Street’s recent gains, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 400 points.

AP IMPACT: MELTDOWN-IGNORED WARNINGS
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration backed off proposed crackdowns on no-money-down, interest-only mortgages years before the economy collapsed, buckling to pressure from some of the same banks that have now failed. It ignored remarkably prescient warnings that foretold the financial meltdown, according to an Associated Press review of regulatory documents.

HOLIDAY SHOPPING
NEW YORK — The Thanksgiving shopping weekend may not have been the disaster some had feared, but unprecedented discounts and tempered buying likely resulted in overall soft sales as a buying binge on Friday quickly fizzled. Now, online retailers are ramping up deals to turn skittish shoppers into “Cyber Monday” spenders.

INDIA-SHOOTING
MUMBAI, India — Soldiers removed the last bodies from the shattered Taj Mahal hotel Monday as India formally demanded Pakistan take “strong action” against those behind the 60-hour siege that left at least 172 people dead.

THAILAND-POLITICAL UNREST
BANGKOK, Thailand — Anti-government protesters reinforce their siege of Bangkok’s two airports as the politically paralyzed country struggles with more than 300,000 stranded travelers.

ITALY-VENICE-HIGH WATER — Highest water levels in 20 years flood Venice’s historic center, St. Mark’s Square.

FEATURES

HOMOSEXUALITY
MCT: Compared to straight men, gay men are more likely to be left-handed, to be the younger siblings of older brothers, and to have hair that whorls in a counterclockwise direction. Researchers are finding common biological traits among gay men, feeding a growing consensus that sexual orientation is an inborn combination of genetic and environmental factors that largely decide a person’s sexual attractions before they are born. Such findings — including a highly anticipated study this winter — would further inform the debate over whether homosexuality is innate or a choice, an undercurrent of California’s recent Proposition 8 campaign in which television commercials warned that “schools would begin teaching second-graders that boys could marry boys,” suggesting homosexuality would then spread

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN
WASHINGTON — The government released a quartet of reports Wednesday that paint a bleak picture of the nation’s economy: Jobless claims remain at recessionary levels, Americans cut back on their spending by the largest amount since the 2001 terrorist attacks, orders to U.S. factories plummeted and homes sales fell to the lowest level in nearly 18 years.

OBAMA-ECONOMY
CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama pledged on Wednesday to have an economic plan ready for action to deal with the nation’s financial crisis on his first day in office. “Help is on the way,” he declared.

THAILAND-POLITICAL UNREST
BANGKOK, Thailand — Thailand’s prime minister rejected his army chief’s call that he step down to end the country’s political crisis that has brought hordes of protesters to Bangkok airport, stranding thousands of travelers.

THANKSGIVING TRAVEL
CHICAGO — Travelers breezed through airport terminals Wednesday and drivers cruised open roads, the effects of a sour economy blamed for keeping people closer to home at the start of the annual Thanksgiving rush.

IRAQ
BAGHDAD — Intense dealmaking among Iraq’s political factions on Wednesday delayed by one day a parliamentary vote on a security pact that would allow American forces to stay in the country through 2011 under tight Iraqi supervision.

IRAN-NUCLEAR
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has more than 5,000 centrifuges to process uranium at its enrichment plant, its nuclear chief said Wednesday, in the country’s latest defiance of U.N. demands that it halt the controversial program.

TERROR WARNING
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities are warning law enforcement personnel of a possible terror plot against the New York City subway system during the holiday season.

PIRACY
NEW DELHI — The pirate “mother ship” sunk last week by the Indian navy was actually a Thai fishing trawler seized hours earlier by pirates, a maritime agency says, but the Indian navy defends its actions, saying it fired in self-defense.

AFGHANISTAN
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai criticizes the U.S. and other foreign countries for creating a “parallel government” in Afghanistan’s countryside during a blunt overview of the country’s problems before a U.N. Security Council delegation.

INFANT FORMULA
UNDATED — Traces of the industrial chemical melamine have been detected in samples of top-selling U.S. infant formula, but federal regulators insist the products are safe.

WATERY MOON, HFR
WASHINGTON — Astronomers looking at the spectacular supersonic plumes of gas and dust shooting off one of Saturn’s moons say there are strong hints of liquid water, a key building block of life.

BARBARA BUSH
Former first lady Barbara Bush was “resting comfortably” Wednesday morning in a Houston hospital following surgery for a perforated ulcer, a family spokesman said.
 

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN
WASHINGTON — The economy shrank more than expected in the third quarter and home prices fell to levels not seen since early 2004 as the government announced new plans to provide $800 billion to boost consumer spending and home buying.

OBAMA-ECONOMY
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama wants to project fiscal restraint even as his economic team assembles a massive, expensive recovery package. Obama is expected to lay out his budget belt-tightening vision at a Tuesday news conference and introduce Peter Orszag as his new director of the Office of Management and Budget.

— OBAMA-ECONOMIC RESCUE — Congressional Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama are laying the groundwork for quick enactment in January of a giant, two-year economic rescue package that will total about a half-trillion dollars.

THAILAND-POLITICAL UNREST
BANGKOK, Thailand — Anti-government demonstrators swarmed Bangkok’s international airport late Tuesday, halting departing flights, as opponents and supporters of Thailand’s government fought in the streets of the city.

MUSLIM CHARITY-TRIAL
DALLAS — It took 15 years and two trials, but the government has won a terrorism conviction against what had been the nation’s largest Muslim charity and five of its leaders for funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

GUANTANAMO-BIN LADEN’S DRIVER
WASHINGTON — Former Osama bin Laden driver Salim Hamdan is being transferred from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, back to his home country of Yemen, a senior defense official

SAFE CARS
WASHINGTON — The insurance industry names dozens of new cars and trucks, led by Ford Motor Co. and its Volvo subsidiary, to its annual list of the safest vehicles, helped by the increased use of anti-rollover technology.

With:
— SAFE CARS-LIST — The 72 top safety picks.

VENEZUELA-RUSSIA
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — Russian warships sailed into a Venezuelan port Tuesday, greeted by a 21-gun salute and an eager welcome from President Hugo Chavez as Moscow seeks to expand its influence in Latin America.

VICK-DOGFIGHTING
SUSSEX, Va. — Former NFL star quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty Tuesday to a state dogfighting charge, a necessary step to make him eligible for early release from prison and potentially speed a return to the NFL.

PIRACY
Pirates move Saudi supertanker farther out to sea after extremist Islamic group’s vow to fight the bandits because they seized a Muslim-owned vessel.

ARMAGEDDON CHURCH
They’re still ready for Armageddon at the Church Universal and Triumphant, a religious sect that for almost two decades has kept a bomb shelter stocked for 750 people deep in a forest near Yellowstone National Park.

IRELAND-BEGGING
Ireland to tighten anti-begging laws for first time since Potato Famine 160 years ago.

PIRATES-MILLION DOLLAR ARM
The Pittsburgh Pirates sign two Indian pitchers — and not from Cleveland. Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel are believed to be the first athletes from India to sign professional baseball contracts outside their country.

FEATURES

BLACK-FRIDAY
USA TODAY: It’s wild. It’s a ritual. And it’s one way to save money on holiday gifts in these financially trying times. But blazing out in the early morning hours after Thanksgiving to hit stores for “doorbuster” sales that often start at midnight sure isn’t the only way to snag a great bargain this holiday season - as even the retailers rolling out the Black Friday deals acknowledge. In fact, this year you probably don’t need to. The recession has made bargain hunters out of almost every consumer and discounters of most every retailer. That’s combined to make this year’s Black Friday more feverish than ever.

 WAXMAN-DINGELL
WASHINGTON — Rep. Henry Waxman — a liberal ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi — toppled veteran Michigan Rep. John Dingell on Thursday to take over the chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee in the next Congress.

IRAQ-INSURGENT KILLED
BAGHDAD — An al-Qaida in Iraq leader blamed in the 2004 abduction and murder of an Army reservist and other deadly attacks over several years was killed in an American raid in Baghdad, the U.S. military said Thursday.

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN
WASHINGTON — Pounded by a fierce financial crisis, the country is sinking deeper into economic despair that has pushed the number of newly laid-off workers to a 16-year high, with problems likely to stretch well into next year.

JOBLESS BENEFITS
WASHINGTON — With weekly jobless claims benefits at a 16-year high, the White House said Thursday that President George W. Bush would quickly sign legislation pending in Congress to provide further unemployment benefits.

CONGRESS-AUTOS
WASHINGTON — A plan to give troubled U.S. automakers billions of dollars in government-backed loans is stalled on Capitol Hill, leaving the fate of hundreds of thousands of workers and Detroit’s once-venerable car companies hanging in the balance.

OBAMA-CABINET
WASHINGTON — Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, an early Barack Obama supporter from the southwestern part of the country, is the likely choice for the job of secretary of homeland security, a top Obama adviser said Thursday.

GITMO DETAINEES
A federal judge has ordered the release of five Algerian terror suspects who have been held without charges almost seven years at Guantanamo Bay in the first civilian court ruling for terror suspects challenging their detention.

SPACE STATION ANNIVERSARY
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA couldn’t have staged it any better: 10 people in orbit for the 10th anniversary of the world’s most elaborate and expensive housing project, the international space station.

TV ADS-OBESITY
ATLANTA — A little less “I’m Lovin’ It” could put a significant dent in the problem of childhood obesity, suggests a new study that attempts to measure the effect of TV fast-food ads.

— PEOPLE-50 CENT — Taco Bell: Rapper 50 Cent trying to `burnish his gangsta rapper persona’ with lawsuit.

— FUNERAL-TASER — A pallbearer is hit with a Taser as North Carolina officers try to serve arrest warrant at his father’s funeral.

FEATURES

ECONOMY-SANTA
USA TODAY: Reining in holiday spending gets a bit more complicated when reindeer are involved. It’s one thing to tell teenagers that money’s tight this year, so there won’t be as many presents under the tree. Sure, it doesn’t go over well, but at least older kids can understand how the economy is affecting their parents jobs or paychecks. But what about when your kid reminds you that Santa makes the gifts, so money doesn’t matter? We talk to a financial expert who specializes in teaching young people about money, members of the shopper panel and even Santa himself to get the best answers and approaches to get little kids’ holiday wish lists more in line with the times.

ECON-RETAIL
GNS: This year, after-Christmas sales may essentially begin before Thanksgiving. In more ordinary economic times, troubled retailers would hang on through the holiday shopping season before filing for bankruptcy or closing stores to downsize. That’s not the case this year in the midst of a credit crisis and sharp downturn in consumer spending.

FBN-FANS
GNS: Indianapolis Colts fan Tom Petty arrived at Lucas Oil Stadium on Nov. 2 prepared to cheer for the hometown team, boo the New England Patriots and join 63,000 other fans in enjoying the experience of attending an NFL game. What he heard was a non-stop barrage of obscene taunts from a group of Colts fans behind him that made him glad he had left his children at home. That’s precisely the kind of incident that prompted the NFL this season to adopt a formal fan code of conduct. The New England game was the first use of Lucas Oil Stadium’s new text messaging system that allows fans to quickly and anonymously report problems to stadium security. The NFL expects the technology to be in place in all of its stadiums by the end of the season.

CONGRESS-AUTOS
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has told Congress the administration remains firmly opposed to dipping into the government’s $700 billion financial bailout fund to provide the Big Three automakers the $25 billion rescue they are seeking.

With:
— CHINA-AUTOS-GM — GM shows 3 new models for China, positioning to keep edge in a market vital for its future. AP Photos planned.
— AUTOMAKERS-FORD CEO — Ford’s CEO says no one could have foreseen bad business slump.

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN
WASHINGTON —Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke waged a stout defense on Capitol Hill Tuesday of their management of a $700 billion financial bailout just one week after the administration abandoned the original strategy behind the rescue.

PIRACY
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million in crude oil anchored the ship within sight of impoverished Somali fishing villages Tuesday, while the U.S. and other naval forces decided — for now — against intervention.

WILDFIRES
LOS ANGELES — Smoky skies cleared and once-whipping winds slowed to a standstill Tuesday, as another wave of those who fled Southern California’s ferocious weekend wildfires prepared to sort through the remains of their homes.

IRAQ
BAGHDAD — Iraq said Tuesday that it will hold long-awaited provincial elections on Jan. 31, a step forward for U.S.-backed efforts to promote national reconciliation even though a key northern area will not participate in the vote. By Sameer N. Yacoub.

CHINA-TIBET
BEIJING — With Tibetan exiles now considering whether to push for independence, China on Tuesday reaffirmed its hard-line stance on the future of the Himalayan region, saying that any move to separate Tibet from China was “doomed.”

SENATE-LIEBERMAN
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Lieberman held onto his prized chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee despite lingering hard feelings over his vocal support for GOP nominee John McCain during this year’s presidential campaign.

BUSH-HOLIDAY TRAVEL
WASHINGTON — Anticipating another holiday travel crunch, President Bush on Tuesday said his administration is taking steps to prevent the frustrating flight delays that many travelers experience.

FACE FILLERS
WASHINGTON — Plastic surgeons pledged Tuesday to help the government track the safety of one of the most popular new beauty treatments: facial injections of various kinds of gels to smooth away wrinkles.

FEATURES

GIFTCARDS
USA TODAY: While spending on gift cards is expected to drop this year - reflecting an overall decline in holiday spending - nearly two-thirds of consumers plan to buy them, according to a survey by Deloitte LLP. And nearly 55 percent of consumers say they would like to receive a gift card, according to the National Retail Federation. But if the retailer goes out of business, the gift card could become a worthless piece of plastic. With retail bankruptcies expected to rise next year, gift card givers and recipients need to take steps to protect themselves. In the spirit of the season, we offer some tips.

LIVESTOCK-WELFARE
GNS: Sponsors of a California ballot initiative that sets new welfare standards for livestock are pledging to push those changes nationwide. That’s just what livestock interests nationally were worried about. They contributed millions to a campaign to defeat the measure, which effectively bans the use of sow stalls and hen cages.

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN
WASHINGTON — Consumers, taking a beating from the worst financial crisis in seven decades, cut back sharply on their spending in October, pushing retail sales down by a record amount. As President George W. Bush and other world leaders gathered for a weekend summit to search for ways out of the mess, the Federal Reserve hinted at another interest rate cut.

— MELTDOWN-CITIES — The mayors of Philadelphia, Atlanta and Phoenix are asking the federal government to use a portion of the $700 billion financial bailout to assist struggling cities.
— WALL STREET — Stocks lower as investors give back gains from big rally, refocus on economy; Dow down 250.
— AUTO BAILOUT — Senate Democrats will take up a bill to extend $25 billion in emergency loans to the auto industry on Monday and plan a test vote on it two days later, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday as supporters scrambled for votes to break an expected filibuster by opponents.

OBAMA-MCCAIN
CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama plans to meet with vanquished Republican rival John McCain on Monday in Chicago, his transition office announced Friday. A day earlier, Obama met with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is under consideration for secretary of state.

With:
— OBAMA-RADIO ADDRESS — Tube-side chat? Obama taking weekly presidential radio address to YouTube.

WILDFIRES
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Firefighters and a squadron of aircraft launched a desperate daylight attack Friday to push back a wind-whipped wildfire that destroyed at least 100 homes and forced thousands to evacuate.

RUSSIA-PRESIDENTIAL TERM
MOSCOW — Russian lawmakers gave preliminary approval Friday for extending presidential terms from four years to six — a move observers say could pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the presidency.

FEMALE GENERAL
WASHINGTON — From its humble beginning 33 years ago at Fort Sill, Okla., the career of Ann E. Dunwoody is ascending to a peak never before reached by a woman in the U.S. military: four-star general. By Robert Burns.

SHUTTLE
NASA began fueling space shuttle Endeavour on Friday for an evening flight to the international space station and a home remodeling project by astronauts doubling as kitchen and bathroom installers.

SALVATION ARMY-CREDIT CARDS — Season of change: Salvation Army testing plastic at holiday red kettles in Colorado county.

BRITAIN-VIRTUAL AFFAIR — Reports: Virtual affair in Second Life universe yields real-life divorce for UK couple.

SAFE-HAVEN — Nebraska parents rush to abandon children before lawmakers rewrite ill-fated `safe-haven’ law. AP Photo NENH104.

MEXICO-FREE VIAGRA — Mexico City to hand out free Viagra pills to men 70 and older.

FEATURES

AUTO-REPAIRS
MCT: Ken Kirkpartrick’s business differs from many these days. His auto shop is actually making money. Car repair companies across the country are reaping the benefits of a scaled-down economy as people patch up aging vehicles instead of splurging on newer ones.
“When times are really good, business is not good,” said Kirkpartrick, part owner of Ken’s Muffler Shop in Dallas. “When people are making a lot of money, they’re not repairing cars.” As the country settles into an economic slowdown, repairs at his shop have been bumped up 15 percent, Kirkpartrick said. The small garage is filled with late-’90s and early-2000s models.

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN
WASHINGTON — Applications for unemployment benefits soared to the highest level since just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks while the trade deficit shrank more than expected as demand for imports plunged, further evidence of the struggling U.S. economy.

WORLD ECONOMY
LONDON — The world’s developed economies, hard hit by the financial crisis, have slid into recession and will shrink further in 2009, a top international organization said Thursday.

MELTDOWN-LOCAL LOBBYING — The nation’s mayors and governors are prodding Congress to jump-start the economy by increasing food stamp payments, extending unemployment insurance and boosting funding for Medicaid.

ENERGY FORECAST — The dramatic drop in world oil prices means a break this winter in heating costs, although households will still be paying more than they did last winter, the government says.

OIL PRICES — Oil falls below $56 as grim world economic news heightens fears of severe recession.

AUTO BAILOUT
WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats are marshaling support for a rescue package to pump $25 billion in emergency loans to U.S. automakers in exchange for a government ownership stake in Detroit’s car companies.

REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS
MIAMI — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is trying to tamp down talk about a 2012 presidential run. She says the Republican Party and its leaders need to focus on governors races in 2010.

With:
— PALIN HOAX — MSNBC says it was wrong to believe admitted ’source’ of Palin story; other outlets duped, too.

BRIDGE COLLAPSE-NTSB
WASHINGTON — Federal safety investigators on Thursday pinpointed steel plates in a main truss as the location where the deadly collapse of a Minneapolis bridge last year began.

STUDENT ELECTED
A county treasurer who lost her bid for a fourth term last week to a 20-year-old Dartmouth College student from Montana blames her failed candidacy on “brainwashed college kids.”

PEOPLE-LINDSAY LOHAN
Lindsay Lohan referred to President-elect Barack Obama as the country’s “first colored president” in an interview on “Access Hollywood.”

FEATURES

HIGH DEF TIPS
The digital television transition is right around the corner, so high-definition TVs - with their built-in digital tuners - will top many gift lists this holiday season. But before you buy, make sure you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck.

NEW OLYMPIC SPORTS
Leaders of baseball and softball, along with five other sports seeking inclusion in the 2016 Summer Games, will present their cases Friday to the International Olympic Committee.Golf, karate, roller sports, rugby and squash officials also will meet the 16-member program commission, which will deliver an influential report to the IOC’s top decision-making body before the vote by IOC members in October.

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday the $700 billion government rescue program will not be used to purchase troubled assets as originally planned.

With:
— WALL STREET — Wall Street losses steepen as Paulson unveils plan to not buy distress bank assets.

AUTO BAILOUT
WASHINGTON — Democratic congressional leaders want Congress to work in a lameduck session on a financial bailout for the troubled U.S. auto industry, which is suffering under the weight of poor sales, tight credit and a sputtering economy.

Also:
— AP POLL-OBAMA — People want the tax cuts promised during the presidential campaign, but they may be willing to wait while President-elect Obama takes on the larger issue of fixing the economy, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll.

IRAQ
BAGHDAD — The U.S. military says two American troops were killed and six wounded in a shooting in Mosul. A series of bombings shook Baghdad for the third straight day Wednesday, killing 17 people and wounding more than 70, police said.

AIRLINE PASSENGERS
WASHINGTON — A federal task force approved voluntary guidelines Wednesday for airlines and airports dealing with passengers stranded for hours on the tarmac but produced no fixed limit on how long they can be delayed before being allowed to leave planes.

SCOTUS-NAVY SONAR
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted restrictions on the Navy’s use of sonar in training exercises off the California coast, a defeat for environmental groups who say the sonar can harm whales.

GAY MARRIAGE
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A judge cleared the way Wednesday for gay marriage in Connecticut, a victory for advocates stung by California’s referendum that banned same-sex unions in that state.

PARANOIA SURGE
LONDON — If you think they’re out to get you, you’re not alone. Paranoia, once assumed to afflict only schizophrenics, may be a lot more common than previously thought.

AP INTERVIEW: DISGRACED EX-CONGRESSMAN — Even two years after Mark Foley’s fall from grace, the former congressman can’t explain why he sent lurid computer messages to former male pages on Capitol Hill. In an AP interview, Foley breaks his silence and apologizes to his former constituents.

UGLY FRUIT RETURNS — It’s time to welcome back the curvy zucchini, the mangled mushroom and other odd and ugly fruits and vegetables. Starting next summer, the European Union will once again allow the sale of fruit and vegetables that may be crooked, bent or twisted but are fine for consumption.

BRITAIN-SPERM SHORTAGE — The British Fertility Society is warning that the country is facing a shortage of men willing to donate sperm.

MISSING CAT — A California couple recently had an unexpected reunion with an old housemate: their pet cat who went missing more than 13 years ago.

FEATURES

REALITY TV - NO END
The mere mention of the words “reality television” makes most sensible viewers recoil. It conjures up bug-eating 20-year-olds on MTV or D-list actors shamelessly trying to make ill-conceived and improbable comebacks. It brings up visions of Flavor Flav on VH1. If that fails to fell them, there’s the association with Fox — from “Joe Millionaire” through “Celebrity Boxing” and “The Littlest Groom” and ... well, there really is no end. And no bottom.