AP - With the economy sinking faster, employers are giving more Americans dreaded pink slips right before the holidays.

AP - Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in the deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting of Iraqi civilians could face mandatory 30-year prison sentences under an aggressive anti-drug law being considered as the Justice Department readies indictments, people close to the case said.

AP - A Pakistani militant group apparently used an Indian operative as far back as 2007 to scout targets for the elaborate plot against India's financial capital, authorities said, a blow to Indian officials who have blamed the deadly attacks entirely on Pakistani extremists.

AP - Democrats are growing impatient with President-elect Barack Obama's refusal to inject himself in the major economic crises confronting the country. Obama has sidestepped some policy questions by saying there is only one president at a time. But the dodge is wearing thin. "He's going to have to be more assertive than he's been," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told consumer advocates Thursday.

AP - Desperate U.S. automakers ran into fresh obstacles from skeptical lawmakers Thursday as they appealed with rising urgency — and a new dose of humility — for a $34 billion bailout. Without help, said one senator, "we're looking at a death sentence."

AP - A security pact with a timetable for pulling U.S. forces from Iraq won final government approval Thursday, even as suicide bombers killed 17 people and wounded more than 100. Two Americans were among the dead.

AP - The first NFL game broadcast to theaters live in 3-D fumbled, then recovered Thursday night.

AP - LaDainian Tomlinson can still run the ball and his San Diego Chargers finally looked like world-beaters.

Reuters - A report on Friday expected to show the biggest monthly U.S. jobs loss in 26 years is set to pile more pressure on the Federal Reserve to slash rates again and add urgency to an automaker bailout as the global economic crisis deepens.

Reuters - China and the United States pledged on Friday to boost efforts to tackle the turmoil engulfing global markets and to continue high-level cooperation when President-elect Barack Obama takes office.

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama has begun laying the groundwork for overhauling the troubled U.S. healthcare system, reaching out to interest groups and building grass-roots support for the huge undertaking.

Reuters - Gunshot-like sounds were heard at New Delhi's international airport early on Friday, sparking a security scare after last week's Mumbai attacks, but police said no one was hurt.

Reuters - The United States has made clear progress in steadying its financial system, thanks in part to a $700 billion bailout fund authorized by Congress, but the rehabilitation process still faces many challenges, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday.

Reuters - The chief executives of General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC said they would consider restarting merger talks if needed to win their slice of up to $34 billion in emergency U.S. government aid.

Reuters - Iraq's Presidency Council has approved a security pact with the United States that paves the way for a complete U.S. troop pullout by the end of 2011, a spokesman for the council said on Thursday.

Reuters - Top U.S. nuclear diplomat Christopher Hill said on Friday he believed North Korea understood what was required to reach a deal on verifying Pyongyang's earlier declaration about its atomic activities.

AFP - A security scare at New Delhi's international airport on Thursday highlighted jitters after the Mumbai attacks, as Pakistan vowed "strong action" if anyone was shown to be involved from its territory.

AFP - Bangkok's main airport resumed full operations Friday in time for the king's birthday after crippling protests, but Thailand's political uncertainty deepened after the monarch cancelled his annual speech.