The supervisor is Mike Stewart (800-845-8450, ext. 1602). In Photos, Liz Schultz (ext. 1900). In Multimedia/Graphics, Bernadette Tuazon (ext. 1901). Expanded AP content, beyond what appears on this wire, can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact customersupport(at)ap.org or call 877-836-9477.
NEW & DEVELOPING:
SWINE FLU
ATLANTA — Swine flu has sickened nearly 50 million Americans, and killed nearly 10,000, according to new government estimates. It's a big jump from the last estimate of 22 million, and means about 1 in 6 Americans have had the illness. By Medical Writer Mike Stobbe. Will be led.
Also:
— BREAST CANCER-BONE DRUGS — Results from landmark women's health study raise intriguing possibility that bone-building drugs such as Fosamax and Actonel may help prevent breast cancer. Has moved.
— OBAMA-NOBEL — Obama's banquet remarks, midafternoon.
— FEDERAL BUDGET — Federal budget deficit for November hits $120.3 billion, record 14th straight month of red ink. Has moved.
— MORTGAGE AID — Obama administration's loan help program only helps 31,000 homeowners as of November. Has moved.
— TV-ABC-GOOD MORNING AMERICA — George Stephanopoulos to replace Diane Sawyer on ABC's 'Good Morning America.' AP photo. Has moved.
— BRITAIN-AVATAR — James Cameron's science fiction spectacular 'Avatar' gets its world premiere in London. AP photo, video. Will be led.
— FIREFIGHTERS LAWSUIT — Midafternoon promotions ceremony.
TOP STORIES:
OBAMA-NOBEL
OSLO — Enshrined with the world's great peacemakers, President Barack Obama offers a striking defense of war. Evil must be opposed, he says in his Nobel acceptance speech, even as he makes an impassioned case for working toward a "just and lasting peace." By Ben Feller.
AP photos, video, multimedia.
With:
— NOBEL-MEDIA — The Nobel Committee defends restrictions on how footage of its award ceremony can be used, saying it is trying to protect the broadcast from commercialization and politically biased misuse.
— OBAMA-NOBEL-TEXT.
PAKISTAN-US ARRESTS-PROBE
SARGODHA, Pakistan — Five young American Muslims detained in Pakistan came to the country to join up with militants in the Taliban-ruled northwest and even hoped to take on U.S. troops in Afghanistan, officials say. One of their fathers is also in custody, and police seized jihadi literature and city maps from the men. By Asif Shahzad.
AP photos.
Also:
— PARENTS-TERRORISM — It's a dilemma no parent wants to face — fearing a son or daughter may be mixed up in terrorism, wondering whether to turn them in. It was Washington-area parents who helped authorities find the young American Muslims taken into custody in Pakistan this week.
CLIMATE-HACKED E-MAILS
WASHINGTON — Climate-change skeptics — including many congressional Republicans looking to scuttle a greenhouse gas bill — have been emboldened by the uproar over stolen e-mails suggesting that global warming scientists suppressed contrary views. The timing of the brouhaha could not have been worse, coming as delegates in Copenhagen are trying to forge an international agreement on global warming. By H. Josef Hebert.
Also:
— CLIMATE — European nations struggle to pin down their contribution to a $10 billion climate fund to help poor nations.
— EL NINO — El Nino getting stronger, should last through spring, government weather experts say.
CHINA-NEW AUTO KING
SHANGHAI — China has overtaken the U.S. as the world's biggest market for automobiles, the first time any other country has bought more vehicles than the nation that produced Henry Ford. Now that the Chinese buy more cars and trucks than Americans do, huge ripples could be felt on the environment, on prices for gasoline and even on cars design. By Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Dee-Ann Durbin.
AP photos, graphic.
STORM RDP
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A deadly, windy storm that has paralyzed a wide swath of the nation leaves behind bitter cold, with temperatures below freezing in 13 states and gusts that make it feel as cold as minus 25. Power outages in the Midwest, dozens of lost hunters in the West and a howling wind that blew over a packed bus in New York are just a few of the lingering miseries from the first big storm of the season. By Carolyn Thompson.
AP photos, graphic, video, audio.
MADOFF SCANDAL
NEW YORK — The FBI agents who arrived at Bernard Madoff's luxury penthouse apartment on Dec. 11, 2008, found a broken man in a bathrobe who knew his time was up and confessed he had "paid investors with money that wasn't there." That was an understatement. A year after the multibillion dollar investment scheme collapsed, investigators are looking at other possible suspects including Madoff's sons and the SEC is cracking down on other white-collar fraud in reaction to its earlier blunder. By Tom Hays and Larry Neumeister.
AP photos, video.
WASHINGTON:
US-AFGHANISTAN-ANALYSIS
WASHINGTON — Count Congress as skeptical and stingy about expanding the Afghanistan war. Democrats grudgingly accepted the administration's escalation of the war but balked at increasing civilian aid in a country known for weak leadership and widespread corruption. An AP News Analysis by National Security Writer Anne Gearan.
CONGRESS-SPENDING
WASHINGTON — Congress sends the White House a deficit-swelling $1.1 trillion spending bill boosting some foreign aid and many domestic programs — all atop hundreds of billions in special stimulus money for pulling the country out of the recession. By Andrew Taylor.
With:
— CONGRESS-SPENDING-GLANCE.
Also:
— HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL — Unions press Senate Democrats to drop a tax on high-end health care plans to finance President Barack Obama's overhaul as debate on the massive bill enters its 11th straight day.
— FINANCIAL OVERHAUL — Banks and their House allies succeed in limiting states' ability to enforce their own consumer protection rules on national banks.
— BLACK CAUCUS-FINANCIAL OVERHAUL — Black lawmakers' boycott wins $4 billion for mortgage-defaulting homeowners, poor neighborhoods.
— YOUNG HISPANICS, HFR — Children of Hispanic immigrants less likely to be dropouts than young immigrants. Eds: For release at 12:01.
MORE ON THE ECONOMY:
BANKS-BONUS BACKLASH
NEW YORK — Better to be a banker in New York than Europe this bonus season. The leaders of Britain and France are embracing a one-time tax on fat bonuses paid by bailed-out banks — restrictions that go far beyond what's being considered in the United States. Still, some U.S. banks are taking pre-emptive action to quell anger over bonuses, with Goldman Sachs announcing it will forgo giving cash bonuses for its top executives. By Business Writer Stevenson Jacobs.
Also:
— NET WORTH — Inch by inch, Americans are recovering some of their vast loss of wealth from the recession, thanks to gains in home values and investments. AP graphic.
— EDITOR & PUBLISHER-CLOSING — Nielsen to close Editor & Publisher as it sells other titles, including Billboard. AP photo.
— ECONOMY — The economic recovery is likely to draw strength from rising exports of farm products, autos, aircraft and industrial machinery — all of which helped lower the nation's trade deficit in October.
— AOL SPINOFF — AOL begins new life as independent Internet company, separately traded stock.
INTERNATIONAL:
EGYPT-GAZA
CAIRO — Egypt digs trenches and installs metal sheets deep below ground along its border with Gaza in an attempt to block the tunnels that are a key conduit for weapons and explosives into the Palestinian territory. Egypt is already under fire from Muslims for cooperating with Israel in the blockade of impoverished Gaza and has kept the project quiet, knowing it would draw more criticism. By Sarah El Deeb.
AP photos.
IRAQ-IRANIAN EXILES
BAGHDAD — Iraq announces plans to move members of an Iranian opposition group to a former desert detention camp — a sharp escalation of pressure on an exile faction with political complications for Baghdad and Washington. The group denounces the plan and says it will bring a "humanitarian catastrophe." By Brian Murphy.
SPAIN-WATCH YOUR GRAMMAR
MADRID — Can a Barcelona truck driver be expected to speak like a Buenos Aires banker? Can rules be imposed for a language spoken by some 400 million people stretching from Madrid to Manila? The academic overseers of the language of Cervantes have taken an ambitious stab at it, unveiling their first grammar guidelines in more than 70 years. By Daniel Woolls.
AP photos.
Also:
— KOREAS-NUCLEAR — President Barack Obama's envoy to North Korea reaches a 'common understanding' on the need to restart nuclear disarmament talks.
— PHILIPPINES-HOSTAGES — Former militiamen kidnap villagers and children in the Philippines, freeing the youngsters and an old woman but holding nearly 60 other hostages.
— KENYA-GUANTANAMO — The family of a man held at Guantanamo Bay for his alleged involvement in an attack on a Mombasa hotel and an attempt to bring down an airliner is suing the Kenyan government for $30 million in damages. AP photos.
— ARGENTINA-IMPORTING BEEF — Argentina, a nation that prides itself on having more cattle than people, may soon be forced to import beef, its signature dish. AP photos, video.
NATIONAL:
CLIMATE-CLOUD SEEDING
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Faced with searing droughts, growing demand for water and the threat that climate change could make matters worse, governments around the globe are increasingly turning to cloud seeding to wring more rain and snow from the sky. But those efforts are threatened by budget cuts and by scientists who doubt whether the technique works or is worth the money. By Samantha Young.
AP photos, graphic.
ASIAN CARP FEARS
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — After nearly four decades as a Great Lakes fishing guide, Pat Chrysler has seen enough damage from invasive species to fear what giant, ravenous Asian carp could do to the nation's largest source of freshwater. "It's like introducing piranhas to the Great Lakes," he says. The prospect of a carp invasion alarms environmentalists and people whose livelihoods depend on a strong fishing and tourism economy. Federal and state officials are mounting a desperate effort to keep the carp out of the Great Lakes. By John Flesher.
AP photos, graphic.
Also:
— CENTENARIAN SEX OFFENDER — A 100-year-old sex offender who prosecutors say used his grandfatherliness to snare his young victims is released from halfway house.
— ROMAN POLANSKI — California justices conclude Roman Polanski hearing in sex case without immediate decision. AP photos.
— FIREFIGHTERS LAWSUIT — Promotion day arrives for white Connecticut firefighters who won landmark employment-discrimination battle. AP photos.
HEALTH:
— ISRAEL-MOZART EFFECT — Is Mozart good for babies? A group of Israeli doctors has plunged into this long-running debate with a small study that found the soothing sounds of the 18th century composer may help premature babies grow faster. AP photos.
LIFESTYLES:
LIFESTYLES-HEALTHY HOLIDAYS-KIDS
NEW YORK — With childhood obesity a growing problem, many parents are trying to figure out how to have a healthier holiday without depriving their kids of Christmas cookies, potato latkes and other not-so-good-for-you treats. By Megan K. Scott.
AP photos.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:
— TIGER WOODS-INTERNET — Tiger Woods sex scandal has been boon for online publications.
— NURSE STRUCK-VIDEO — NY police release video of nurse being run down as they seek hit-and-run suspect. AP video.
— POLICE SHOOTING-TIMES SQUARE — NYC police officer exchanges gunfire with Times Square panhandler, fatally shooting man. AP photos.
— RARE CHRISTMAS TREE — Rare conifer cut down in Seattle Arboretum may be impossible to replace.
— CHINA-GREAT WALL — China detains 2 over damage to Great Wall during gold prospecting.
MULTIMEDIA:
Notable Photos:
— STORM RDP: CX403, Pedestrian braves frigid temperatures in Chicago.
— PHILIPPINES FIRE: XAF114, Filipino firefighters train hoses on fire in Manila slum area.
— NORWAY NOBEL PEACE OBAMA: ODD101, President Barack Obama receives his Nobel medal and diploma.
— AFGHANISTAN MARINES: AKCF101, U.S. soldier gives candy to Afghan children during patrol in southern Afghanistan.
— NORWAY STRANGE LIGHT: OSL809, Strange light is seen in the night sky in northern Norway.
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