AP - The Senate’s top Democrat has called off a planned vote this week on a $25 billion auto industry bailout. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that he wanted to figure out some way to help Detroit’s struggling Big Three but that efforts to do so had stalled.
AP - Al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, describing the president-elect in demeaning terms that imply he does the bidding of whites. The message appeared chiefly aimed at persuading Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies.
AP - Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens conceded defeat Wednesday in a re-election bid shadowed by his federal felony conviction, a bitter end to a four-decade career in which he held a commanding place in state politics and on some of the most influential congressional committees in Washington.
Reuters - An Indian warship blew up a pirate ship in the Gulf of Aden and gunmen from Somalia seized two more vessels, defying the foreign warships patrolling the seas off their anarchic country.
AP - Top Senate Democrats suggested Wednesday that a bill to rescue Detroit’s Big Three automakers was stalled and challenged the Bush administration to take steps to save the industry if congressional efforts falter. The White House quickly rebuffed the suggestion.
AP - The ship, operating off the coast of Oman in the lawless waters of the Gulf of Aden, was crewed by heavily armed men, some carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Behind it were a pair of speedboats the sort pirates often use when they launch attacks on merchant ships in these violent seas.
AP - Somalia’s increasingly brazen pirates are building sprawling stone houses, cruising in luxury cars, marrying beautiful women even hiring caterers to prepare Western-style food for their hostages.
AP - A 74-year-old blind woman’s 1 cent debt to a Massachusetts city has been settled. People from across the country called Attleboro City Hall on Tuesday offering to pay the 1 cent balance owed by Eileen Wilbur for an overdue water and sewer bill.
AP - Associates of Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband say the former first lady is weighing whether to leave the Senate and become secretary of state, believing the job is hers if she wants it.
AP - Consumer prices plunged by the largest amount in the past 61 years in October as gasoline pump prices dropped by a record amount.
Reuters - Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Wednesday that Israel had made a final decision not to participate in a U.N. forum on racism and urged other countries to boycott what she termed an “anti-Israel tribunal.”
Reuters - With stunning scenery, steamy love scenes, and an adorable Aboriginal child star, the outback epic “Australia” received largely positive reviews after its world premiere but failed to meet all the high expectations.
AP - Cody Linley won’t be graduating “Dancing with the Stars.” The 18-year-old “Hannah Montana” actor and his professional partner, Julianne Hough, were eliminated Tuesday from ABC’s popular dancing competition.
AP - A new witness has come forward in the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba, and prosecutors said Tuesday they are seeking more evidence against the only remaining suspect.
AP - A father arrested after his 6-year-old daughter was fatally shot in their Washington state home allegedly told authorities he had been drinking double shots of vodka while cleaning his guns.