• Court ruling brings down Thai government 12/2/2008, 5:48 a.m. EST
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — A court dissolved Thailand's top three ruling parties for electoral fraud Tuesday and temporarily banned the prime minister from politics, bringing down a government that has faced months of strident protests seeking its ouster.

• India demands Pakistan hand over terror suspects 12/2/2008, 5:47 a.m. EST
MUMBAI, India (AP) — India picked up intelligence in recent months that terrorists were plotting attacks against Mumbai targets, an official said Tuesday, as the government demanded that Islamabad hand over suspected terrorists believed living in the Pakistan.

• Somalia's premier wants Ethiopian troops to stay 12/2/2008, 5:45 a.m. EST
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Somali prime minister says he hopes Ethiopia won't withdraw its troops from Somalia unless there is an international peacekeeping force to replace them.

• Israel buries victims of India attack 12/2/2008, 5:45 a.m. EST
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israelis on Tuesday began burying the six Jews killed in the 60-hour terror rampage in the Indian city of Mumbai, the grimness of the occasion deepened by the conviction that the victims were targeted because of their religion.

• 11 girls die of poisoning at school in north China 12/2/2008, 5:23 a.m. EST
BEIJING (AP) — Eleven girls died of carbon monoxide poisoning at a school in northern China's Shaanxi province, an education official said Tuesday evening. A news report said the girls had lit a fire to keep warm.

• Analysis: Settlers may be Israel's toughest battle 12/2/2008, 5:22 a.m. EST
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's hardest battle may still lie ahead, and it's not against an Arab foe.

• Condoleezza Rice plays piano at Buckingham Palace 12/2/2008, 5:19 a.m. EST
LONDON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave a piano recital for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

• 'Chemical Ali' sentenced to death in Iraq 12/2/2008, 5:15 a.m. EST
BAGHDAD (AP) — A special Iraqi court has sentenced Saddam Hussein's cousin "Chemical Ali" al-Majid to death for his role in the 1991 suppression of a Shiite uprising.

• Muslim cleric ordered back to jail in Britain 12/2/2008, 5:14 a.m. EST
LONDON (AP) — A British court has ordered radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada to be returned to jail for violating bail.

• Search for ivory-billed woodpecker to begin anew 12/2/2008, 5:01 a.m. EST
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Last year, Allan Mueller thinks he saw the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker. The wildlife biologist wants to make sure of it this winter.

• ML APNewsAlert 12/2/2008, 4:57 a.m. EST
BAGHDAD (AP) — "Chemical Ali" al-Majid, one other sentenced to death for crackdown on 1991 Shiite uprising

• Congo rebels say pulled out of eastern town 12/2/2008, 4:56 a.m. EST
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Rebels in Congo say they have pulled out of a town on the Ugandan border they captured last week.

• Nations prepare for cluster bomb accord 12/2/2008, 4:52 a.m. EST
PKHEVISI, Georgia (AP) — When August's fighting surrounded her cottage in this quiet village, Tamuna Kitiashvili fled to the Georgian capital with her husband and 3-year-old daughter.

• Settlers clash with Israeli troops, Palestinians 12/2/2008, 4:34 a.m. EST
HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — Dozens of Jewish settlers rioted Tuesday in the West Bank town of Hebron, clashing with the Israeli troops who guard them but who may also soon evict them from a disputed building they've occupied.

• China investigates attack on foreign journalists 12/2/2008, 4:23 a.m. EST
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities are investigating an attack in which assailants allegedly pulled members of a Belgian television crew from their vehicle, beat them and took their notes and money, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

• Mormon-owned press releasing Joseph Smith journals 12/2/2008, 4:17 a.m. EST
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — For a journal written by a man many consider a confident and charismatic religious prophet, Joseph Smith's first sentence betrays an inkling of self-doubt — it's scratched out.

• Somali pirates fail to hijack US cruise liner 12/2/2008, 4:01 a.m. EST
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Pirates near Somalia chased and shot at a U.S. cruise liner with more than 1,000 people on board but failed to hijack the vessel, a maritime official said Tuesday.

• Panel warns biological attack likely by 2013 12/2/2008, 3:47 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States can expect a terrorist attack using nuclear or more likely biological weapons before 2013, reports a bipartisan commission in a study being briefed Tuesday to Vice President-elect Joe Biden. It suggests the Obama administration bolster efforts to counter and prepare for germ warfare by terrorists.

• AS APNewsAlert 12/2/2008, 3:43 a.m. EST
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thai aviation official says Suvarnabhumi international airport has reopened to cargo flights.

• Obama taps Clinton, Gates for US 'new dawn' abroad 12/2/2008, 3:43 a.m. EST
CHICAGO (AP) — Barack Obama promised "a new dawn of American leadership" in a troubled world, announcing a strong-willed national security team headed by Hillary Rodham Clinton, who fought him long and bitterly for the presidency, and Robert Gates, the man who has been running two wars for George W. Bush.

• Governors to press Obama for help with shortfalls 12/2/2008, 3:40 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's governors are meeting with President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday to press their case for at least $40 billion to help pay for health care for the poor and disabled and even more for infrastructure projects like road and bridge repair.

• Road salt shortage, soaring prices vex states 12/2/2008, 3:32 a.m. EST
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — Dave Barber did the math. Now Peoria's public works director is crossing his fingers and hoping his city has enough road salt to ride out the winter.

• Obama AG pick defended Guantanamo policy 12/2/2008, 3:30 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama's choice to become the next attorney general, Eric Holder, once defended the Bush administration's arguments for holding detainees at Guantanamo Bay, a position that runs counter to his more recent comments — and to a signature policy of the incoming administration.

• China to work with Obama's national security team 12/2/2008, 3:27 a.m. EST
BEIJING (AP) — China said Tuesday it is looking forward to working with President-elect Barack Obama's national security team, welcoming Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state and retired Marine Gen. James Jones as White House national security adviser.

• Bush touts program for mentoring kids of prisoners 12/2/2008, 3:25 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Taking time to highlight some of his presidential initiatives before he leaves the White House, President George W. Bush is recognizing a program in North Carolina that mentors the children of prisoners so they don't wind up on the wrong side of the law too.