• Official: Attack on US patrol kills 5 1/8/2009, 11:58 a.m. EST
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber struck U.S. troops patrolling on foot in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing at least two soldiers and three civilians and wounding at least nine others, officials said.

• ICRC: Israel delayed access to wounded for days 1/8/2009, 11:58 a.m. EST
GENEVA (AP) — The international Red Cross accused Israel Thursday of "unacceptable" delays in letting rescue workers reach three Gaza City homes hit by shelling where they eventually found 15 dead and 18 wounded, including young children too weak to stand.

• Civil rights-era lawyer for Bond, Ali dies in Fla. 1/8/2009, 11:56 a.m. EST
DESTIN, Fla. (AP) — A civil rights-era lawyer from Alabama who represented Julian Bond and Muhammad Ali and argued for the "one man, one vote" principle has died at age 78.

• Union soldier's bones found at Md. Civil War site 1/8/2009, 11:51 a.m. EST
SHARPSBURG, Md. (AP) — Park officials say a visitor has found the remains of a Civil War soldier at the Antietam National Battlefield in western Maryland.

• Ga., Ohio part of national salmonella outbreak 1/8/2009, 11:48 a.m. EST
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia and Ohio are among the states that are part of a national salmonella outbreak that has sent at least a dozen people to the hospital and sickened nearly 400 people, officials said Thursday.

• Official says new NATO route to Afghanistan likely 1/8/2009, 11:44 a.m. EST
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — A NATO official says talks on setting up an alternate supply route to Afghanistan are at an advanced stage — an issue of growing urgency because of intensifying attacks by pro-Taliban forces on convoys in Pakistan.

• Obama warns of dire consequences without stimulus 1/8/2009, 11:41 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama warned of dire and lasting consequences if Congress doesn't pump unprecedented dollars into the economy, making an urgent pitch for his mammoth spending proposal in his first speech since his election.

• APNewsAlert 1/8/2009, 11:41 a.m. EST
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri GOP Sen. Kit Bond says he will not seek re-election in 2010.

• Panel poised to back Blagojevich impeachment vote 1/8/2009, 11:39 a.m. EST
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois House committee investigating Gov. Rod Blagojevich released a draft report Thursday saying the panel believes the Democratic governor has abused his power and recommending the full chamber vote on impeachment.

• Palestinians find 35 bodies in Gaza battle zone 1/8/2009, 11:36 a.m. EST
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A Palestinian health official says the bodies of 35 people have been found in the rubble of a Gaza Strip battle zone.

• Fla. couple share tale of accidental trip to Cuba 1/8/2009, 11:36 a.m. EST
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Robert Vassallo and Angellette Smith had been battered by waves for two days when a final surge sent their boat crashing into a reef off the western coast of Cuba.

• Shooting by Oakland, Calif., officer sparks anger 1/8/2009, 11:33 a.m. EST
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Mayor Ron Dellums urged residents to remain calm after protests turned violent in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a transit police officer.

• Firefighters gain ground on wildfire near Denver 1/8/2009, 11:33 a.m. EST
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Thousands of evacuated residents were allowed to return to their homes Thursday after firefighters took advantage of slowing winds overnight to partially contain a wildfire near Denver that destroyed two houses and several outbuildings.

• Turkish general, government hold urgent talks 1/8/2009, 11:30 a.m. EST
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's military chief held urgent meetings Thursday with the prime minister and president following the detention of three retired generals and nine active duty officers in a probe into an alleged coup plot.

• ML APNewsAlert 1/8/2009, 11:22 a.m. EST
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza Health Ministry official says 35 bodies discovered in rubble of battle zone.

• Mukasey says farewell to Justice Dept. 1/8/2009, 11:18 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Michael Mukasey said farewell to Justice Department employees Thursday, praising their dedication and poking fun at himself for a health scare last year.

• Pakistan fires national security adviser 1/8/2009, 11:18 a.m. EST
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's decision to fire its national security adviser has exposed cracks within the shaky, civilian government as it faces growing U.S. and Indian pressure to punish the alleged plotters of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

• Rain and melting snow bring floods to Washington 1/8/2009, 11:15 a.m. EST
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. (AP) — More than 30,000 people were urged to leave their flood-endangered western Washington homes as snowmelt and rain swelled rivers and caused mudslides and avalanches that engulfed neighborhoods and roadways.

• Police: Roadside bombs kill 6 Iraqi soldiers 1/8/2009, 11:13 a.m. EST
BAGHDAD (AP) — Two simultaneous roadside bombs tore through an Iraqi army patrol responding to a mortar attack Thursday north of Baghdad, killing six Iraqi soldiers, police said. Two other Iraqi soldiers died in another blast near the city of Kirkuk.

• Italian climbers stranded high on Argentine peak 1/8/2009, 11:12 a.m. EST
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Rescuers are trying to reach four Italian mountain climbers and their Argentine guide after they became trapped by a storm at 22,000 feet (6,700 meters) just below the summit of the highest peak in the Americas.

• Fewer visitors to China last year despite Olympics 1/8/2009, 11:08 a.m. EST
BEIJING (AP) — The number of travelers to China dropped by 2 million in 2008 in what was supposed to be a banner year for tourism but became one dampened by Olympics-related security measures and the global economic crunch.

• Ala. sheriff locked up over measly jail meals 1/8/2009, 11:02 a.m. EST
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A northern Alabama sheriff was in federal custody Thursday after a judge ruled he purposely fed inmates skimpy meals so he could make money from an unusual system that lets sheriffs turn a profit on their jail kitchens.

• Sri Lankan military captures rebel base in north 1/8/2009, 10:56 a.m. EST
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan troops captured an important Tamil Tiger base and pounded the rebels with air attacks Thursday, forcing the insurgents to withdraw deeper into the dwindling area that remains under their control, the military said.

• On thin ice: Skaters cross rail tracks 1/8/2009, 10:48 a.m. EST
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Train drivers in the Netherlands are facing an unusual new obstacle — skaters on the tracks.

• How many scorpions? London Zoo counts its critters 1/8/2009, 10:43 a.m. EST
LONDON (AP) — How do you count scorpions?