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AP - Winona Ryder was briefly hospitalized after falling ill on a flight to London's Heathrow Airport on Wednesday, her publicist said. Mara Buxbaum said the 37-year-old actress was taken to a west London hospital "as a precaution" and had been released.
AP - Israeli archaeologists excavating what they believe is the tomb of biblical King Herod said Wednesday they have unearthed lavish Roman-style wall paintings of a kind previously unseen in the Middle East and signs of a regal two-story mausoleum, bolstering their conviction that the Jewish monarch was buried here.
AP - A 30-day age limit in the Nebraska safe-haven law appears headed for final approval. The state Legislature voted 41-6 Wednesday to give second-round approval to the limit. A final vote is expected Friday and then the bill will go to Gov. Dave Heineman, who has said he would support a 30-day age limit.
AP - Mike Huckabee wouldn't rule out a 2012 run for president Wednesday, but he acknowledged it could be hard to take back the spotlight from fellow Republican Sarah Palin. "I'm not ruling anything out for the future, but I'm not making any specific plans," Huckabee told reporters at a briefing to promote his new book, "Do the Right Thing."
AP - Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has accepted President-elect Barack Obama's offer to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, Democratic officials said Wednesday. The appointment has not been announced, but these officials said the job is Daschle's, barring an unforeseen problem as Obama's team reviews the background of the South Dakota Democrat.
AFP - An Indian warship destroyed a pirate "mother vessel" in the Gulf of Aden, the navy said Wednesday, as bandits demanded a ransom for a Saudi super-tanker seized in the most daring sea raid yet.
Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama has tapped David Axelrod, a senior aide and one of his most trusted confidants, to become a senior White House adviser, his transition team said on Wednesday.
Reuters - Federal Reserve officials slashed economic growth forecasts through 2009 and some believed even deeper interest rate cuts may be needed if growth slows further, minutes of their October policy meeting show.
AP - The Kansas City Royals picked up the leadoff hitter they had been seeking, acquiring center fielder Coco Crisp from the Boston Red Sox for reliever Ramon Ramirez on Wednesday. Kansas City was 12th among 14 AL teams in runs last season and added power last month, obtaining first baseman Mike Jacobs from Florida.
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.
AFP - Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Zawahiri ridiculed US president-elect Barack Obama as a "house negro" and warned him against sending more troops to Afghanistan, in an Internet audio message released on Wednesday.
Reuters - Al Qaeda's deputy leader accused Barack Obama of betraying his race and his father's Muslim heritage on Wednesday and urged more attacks, as the group tried to counter the incoming U.S. president's global popularity.
Reuters - Federal Reserve officials slashed economic growth forecasts through 2009 and some believed even deeper interest rate cuts may be needed if growth slows further, minutes of their October policy meeting show.
AP - Al-Qaida's No. 2 slurred Barack Obama with a demeaning racial term for a black American who does the bidding of whites in a new Web message Wednesday intended to dent the president-elect's popularity among Arabs and Muslims and claim he will not change U.S. policy.
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.
Reuters - Barack Obama has chosen former U.S. Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle as his top official to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, two Democratic sources said on Wednesday.
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 Federal Reserve on Wednesday sharply lowered its projections for economic activity this year and next, and signaled that additional interest rate reductions may be needed to help combat the worst financial crisis to jolt the country in more than a half-century.
AP - Democratic officials say former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has accepted President-elect Barack Obama's offer to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
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.
Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama has chosen former U.S. Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle to be Health and Human Services secretary, news media reported on Wednesday, citing sources close to Obama's transition team.
Reuters - Auto executives appeared on Capitol Hill for a second day on Wednesday to argue their case for a $25 billion aid package as legislators in both houses and in both parties seemed to move closer to a deal.
AP - Don Wakamatsu has been hired by the Seattle Mariners, becoming the first Asian-American manager in major league baseball history.
AP - Suri Cruise is the most popular kid on the playground. The 2-year-old daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes tops Forbes.com's second annual list of "Hollywood's 10 Hottest Tots."
AP - The top Senate Democrat sought Wednesday to lower expectations for legislation this week to help endangered carmakers, saying it would be the Bush administration's job to save the industry if Congress doesn't.
AFP - Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Zawahiri ridiculed US president-elect Barack Obama and warned him against sending more troops to Afghanistan, in an Internet audio-message released on Wednesday.
Reuters - Al Qaeda's second-in-command urged Muslims to keep up attacks on the "criminal" United States and criticized U.S. president-elect Barack Obama for promising to back Israel.
AP - The LPGA Tour will have 31 official events next year, three fewer than in 2008.
AP - Suri Cruise is the most popular kid on the playground. The 2-year-old daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes tops Forbes.com's second annual list of "Hollywood's 10 Hottest Tots."
AP - A source close to the process of selecting Barack Obama's attorney general says the president-elect has "informally" offered the post to Washington lawyer Eric Holder, who has accepted.
Reuters - An Indian warship destroyed a pirate ship in the Gulf of Aden and gunmen from Somalia seized two more vessels despite a large international naval presence off their lawless country.
Reuters - Auto executives headed to Capitol Hill for a second day to argue their case for a $25 billion aid package in the face of mounting political opposition to another huge government bailout.
Reuters - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has offered to allow ethics reviews of future business and charitable activities should his wife be picked by President-elect Barack Obama as secretary of state, Democrats familiar with the issue said on Wednesday.
AP - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, using a demeaning racial term implying that the president-elect is a black American who does the bidding of whites.
AP - Former President Bill Clinton has offered several concessions to help Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his wife, become secretary of state, people familiar with President-elect Barack Obama's transition vetting process said Wednesday.
AP - The senior Republican on the Banking Committee said Wednesday he doesn't believe there will be a turnaround in the troubled U.S. auto industry until its top management is ousted and its manufacturing operations are revamped.
AP - Consumer prices plunged by the largest amount in the past 61 years in October as gasoline pump prices dropped by a record amount.
AFP - Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Zawahiri warned US president-elect Barack Obama against sending more troops to Afghanistan, in an Internet audiomessage released on Wednesday.
Reuters - Consumer prices dropped at the fastest rate on record in October and new home construction was at a record low, according to government reports on Wednesday that underlined how rapidly the economy was weakening.
AP - Sen. Ted Stevens' election defeat marks the end of an era in which he held a commanding place in Alaska politics while wielding power on some of the most influential committees in Congress.
Reuters - World stocks and oil fell on Wednesday while government bonds and the yen gained as U.S. car makers begged for a bailout from Washington, adding to evidence that the credit crisis is hitting the real economy.
Reuters - China has told police to ensure stability as its economy slows, Japan's No.3 bank sought to beef up its depleted capital on Wednesday and markets fretted about the stricken U.S. car industry.
AP - Brian Scalabrine, in the starting lineup while Kevin Garnett served a one-game suspension, hit a 3-pointer with 1:14 left to help Boston recover after its 15-point, fourth-quarter lead was trimmed to four and the Celtics beat New York 110-101 on Tuesday night.
AP - An Indian naval vessel sank a suspected pirate "mother ship" in the Gulf of Aden and chased two attack boats into the night, officials said Wednesday, as separate bands of brigands seized Thai and Iranian ships in the lawless seas.
AFP - Germany was to extradite to France on Wednesday an old comrade-in-arms of Rwanda's president over an assassination that triggered 1994's genocide, sparking mass anti-European protests in Kigali.
AFP - An Indian warship destroyed a pirate "mother vessel" in the Gulf of Aden, the navy said Wednesday, as bandits demanded a ransom for a Saudi super-tanker seized in the most daring sea raid yet.
Reuters - The election of Barack Obama as U.S. president has given crucial impetus toward implementing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty more than a decade after it was negotiated, pact officials said on Wednesday.
Reuters - Hundreds of Congolese rebel fighters pulled back on Wednesday from frontline positions in a move U.N. peacekeepers hoped would open the way for talks on ending weeks of conflict in east Congo.
Reuters - A suspected U.S. drone aircraft fired two missiles at a house in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing five suspected militants, possibly including an Arab al Qaeda operative, intelligence officials said.
Reuters - Stem cells from tiny embryos can be used to restore lost hearing and vision in animals, researchers said Tuesday in what they believe is a first step toward helping people.
Reuters - China has told police to ensure stability as its economy slows, Japan's No.3 bank sought to beef up its depleted capital on Wednesday and markets fretted about the stricken U.S. car industry.
AFP - An Indian warship destroyed a pirate "mother vessel" in the Gulf of Aden, the navy said Wednesday, as bandits demanded a ransom for a Saudi super-tanker seized in the most daring sea raid yet.
Reuters - Congolese Tutsi rebels were pulling back south "in the hundreds" from frontline positions in North Kivu province in a gesture to support a United Nations peace initiative, a U.N. military spokesman said on Wednesday.
Reuters - Japan's No.3 bank sought to beef up its capital on Wednesday, markets fretted over the stricken U.S. car industry and Britain's central bank said it considered cutting rates even more dramatically than it did this month.
AP - Before the Cavaliers' rout of New Jersey, LeBron James said he would not hesitate to leave Cleveland if another franchise offers him a better chance to win multiple NBA titles.
AP - With a trio of once-ferocious wildfires reduced to mostly embers, authorities in Southern California shifted their attention from the blazes to their causes, and said a group of careless college kids was behind the first of them.
AP - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton drew about 18 million votes as a presidential candidate. But that doesn't necessarily count for much in the Senate, where seniority rules, and so far not in her favor.
AP - Detroit's Big Three automakers are running out of time in their quest to convince skeptical lawmakers that Congress should throw them a $25 billion lifeline.
AFP - An Indian warship opened fire at a Somali pirate "mother ship", the navy said Wednesday, as bandits demanded a ransom for a Saudi super-tanker seized in the most daring sea raid yet.
Reuters - China will impose a long-awaited fuel tax "very soon," the head of National Development and Reform Commission's (NDRC) Energy Research Institute said in comments reported on Tuesday by the China Daily.
Reuters - An Indian warship destroyed a pirate ship in the Gulf of Aden and gunmen from Somalia seized two more vessels despite a large international naval presence off their lawless country.
Reuters - World stocks and oil fell on Wednesday while government bonds and the yen gained as U.S. automakers begged for a bailout from Washington, adding to evidence that the credit crisis is crippling the real economy.
AP - Losing a game didn't sit well with the Los Angeles Lakers. They took out their anger on the Chicago Bulls.
AP - A suspected U.S. missile strike hit a village well inside Pakistani territory Wednesday, killing at least six alleged militants in an attack that could raise tensions between the anti-terror allies, officials said.
AP - The first black man elected U.S. president is poised to name Washington lawyer Eric Holder as the nation's first black attorney general
AP - Sen. Ted Stevens' election defeat marks the end of an era in which he held a commanding place in Alaska politics while wielding power on some of the most influential committees in Congress.
AFP - Germany was set Wednesday to extradite a Rwandan presidential aide to France to face anti-terror judges probing the downing of the former Rwandan president's jet, an attack which triggered a genocide.
AFP - An international watchdog said Wednesday that piracy in Somalia was "out of control" and called on the United Nations to step in after a Saudi supertanker was hijacked with 100 million dollars of oil.
Reuters - Former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian returned to jail on Wednesday from almost three days of hospital care following a hunger strike, as supporters prepared to protest his arrest, which they call a political plot.