AP - With the economy sinking faster, employers are giving more Americans dreaded pink slips right before the holidays.

AP - Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in the deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting of Iraqi civilians could face mandatory 30-year prison sentences under an aggressive anti-drug law being considered as the Justice Department readies indictments, people close to the case said.

AP - India's top law enforcement official is admitting government "lapses" in last week's Mumbai attacks.

AP - Democrats are growing impatient with President-elect Barack Obama's refusal to inject himself in the major economic crises confronting the country. Obama has sidestepped some policy questions by saying there is only one president at a time. But the dodge is wearing thin. "He's going to have to be more assertive than he's been," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told consumer advocates Thursday.

AP - The government would order a major restructuring of Detroit's struggling Big Three auto companies in exchange for a multibillion-dollar bailout under a plan circulating in Congress.

AP - A security pact with a timetable for pulling U.S. forces from Iraq won final government approval Thursday, even as suicide bombers killed 17 people and wounded more than 100. Two Americans were among the dead.

AP - The first NFL game broadcast to theaters live in 3-D fumbled, then recovered Thursday night.

AP - LaDainian Tomlinson can still run the ball and his San Diego Chargers finally looked like world-beaters.

Reuters - Asia-Pacific policy makers scrambled to prepare fresh measures to prevent further economic deterioration next year as investors awaited a report on Friday expected to show the sharpest U.S. job losses in 26 years.

Reuters - China and the United States pledged on Friday to boost efforts to tackle the turmoil engulfing global markets and to continue high-level cooperation when President-elect Barack Obama takes office.

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama has begun laying the groundwork for overhauling the troubled U.S. healthcare system, reaching out to interest groups and building grass-roots support for the huge undertaking.

Reuters - There is broad understanding of distress but no consensus yet in Congress to rescue U.S. automakers as industry chiefs hope on Friday to advance their case in a second appearance before lawmakers in two days.

Reuters - India's new home minister admitted on Friday there had been security lapses surrounding last week's Mumbai attacks, which New Delhi has blamed on militants from neighboring Pakistan.

Reuters - The United States has made clear progress in steadying its financial system, thanks in part to a $700 billion bailout fund authorized by Congress, but the rehabilitation process still faces many challenges, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday.

Reuters - Top U.S. nuclear diplomat Christopher Hill said on Friday he believed North Korea understood what was required to reach a deal on verifying Pyongyang's earlier declaration about its atomic activities.

Reuters - Thais marked their revered king's birthday on Friday in a solemn mood, concerned for the health of the aging monarch and worried as well over their country's debilitating political deadlock.

AFP - A security scare at New Delhi's international airport on Thursday highlighted jitters after the Mumbai attacks, as Pakistan vowed "strong action" if anyone was shown to be involved from its territory.

AFP - Thousands of stuck travellers were preparing to leave Bangkok's main airport as it resumed full operations, but political uncertainty dragged on after the king cancelled his annual birthday speech.