AP - A powerful car bomb exploded outside the front entrance to a KFC restaurant in the southern Pakistan city of Karachi early Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring 12 others, police said.

AP - Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday released a business version of software that aims to help people more quickly find documents, e-mail and other data stored on Windows-based computers.

AP - Donovan McNabb went to his knees and buried his face in the grass. The pain from his groin injury and his game-turning interception were far worse than anything Terrell Owens could've done. The Eagles' problems are much bigger than T.O. now.

Reuters - A car bomb killed at least six people on Tuesday in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in a attack most likely aimed at a KFC restaurant, police and ambulance crew said.

AFP - A French government bill extending until February a state of emergency will be presented to the national assembly after President Jacques Chirac said that widespread rioting in the country revealed a deep identity crisis.

AFP - A car bomb exploded outside an outlet of a US fast food chain in Pakistan's largest city Karachi, killing at least six people and wounding several others, police and rescue workers said.

AP - The mood will be celebratory when President Bush takes center stage in this ancient capital with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, his closest ally in Asia.

AP - Ben Bernanke, who once thought himself an 'academic lifer,' is poised to take his biggest step yet away from the classroom and toward becoming the most influential economist in the world. President Bush's choice to head the Federal Reserve after Alan Greenspan retires goes before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.

AP - An Indonesian court on Tuesday dropped a civil suit filed by the government against Newmont Mining Corp.'s local subsidiary accusing it of pollution, saying the case should be taken to international arbitration.

Reuters - Israel and the Palestinians reached a deal on Gaza border crossings on Tuesday following intense negotiations brokered by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Defense Ministry sources said.

Reuters - A car bomb exploded outside a KFC fast-food restaurant in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Tuesday, killing two people and wounding about 15, some critically, police and doctors said.

AFP - US President George W. Bush was due in Japan to begin a week-long trip to Asia, hoping for progress on the North Korean nuclear crisis and aiming for action against deadly bird flu.

AFP - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, putting her personal prestige on the line, labored through the early morning hours seeking an Israeli-Palestinian deal to reopen key border crossings in Gaza.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced a crucial deal on Gaza border crossings on Tuesday after brokering marathon talks with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.

KYOTO, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will seek unity with Asian leaders on North Korea in a tour of the region from Tuesday in which he will also reaffirm the U.S. alliance with Japan and press China for trade concessions.

PARIS (Reuters) - France's parliament is expected to approve a government plan on Tuesday to extend emergency powers for three months to quell unrest which President Jacques Chirac said pointed to a deep national malaise.

PUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - Pacific Rim countries representing close to half of world commerce took aim on Tuesday at European Union reluctance to open markets to agriculture, the main stumbling block ahead of crucial trade talks next month.

AP - Police Tuesday blamed al-Qaida for twin suicide bombings against NATO peacekeepers in the Afghan capital. The death toll rose to eight after more bodies were found in a ditch, and security forces searched houses for more suspected attackers.

AP - Israel and the Palestinians have reached a deal on Gaza border crossings, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced Tuesday.

AFP - The French parliament was to examine a bill extending for three months a state of emergency, aimed at quelling a wave of unrest which President Jacques Chirac said revealed a deep identity crisis.

AFP - Israel and the Palestinians reached an agreement for the reopening of borders into the Gaza Strip after talks led by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli public radio reported.

AP - President Bush arrived in Japan aboard Air Force One on Tuesday, with no public appearances scheduled until Wednesday morning local time — Tuesday evening in Washington. He was to tour the Golden Temple, meet with youth leaders and sit down with Koizumi before delivering remarks on the power of democracy.

AP - Israel and the Palestinians agreed Tuesday on a detailed arrangement for opening the borders of the Gaza Strip and allowing freer movement for Palestinians elsewhere, a significant step toward an eventual peace deal between historic enemies.

AP - Mindful that the Iraq war is growing increasingly unpopular, the Senate is calling for 2006 to be a period of significant political and military transition in Iraq that will create conditions for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops.

AP - Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it agreed to acquire Guidant Corp. for $21.5 billion in cash and stock under revised terms that value the troubled heart care device maker at about $4 billion less than last year's original offer.

AP - The Country Music Association awards will be handed out tonight, but not in Nashville.

AP - Hops used to brew beer may have some health benefits but researchers warn against expecting any significant effect by drinking a few cold ones.

Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brokered a deal on Gaza border crossings in marathon talks with Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday, scoring a rare breakthrough in Middle East diplomacy.

Reuters - A car bomb exploded outside a KFC fast-food restaurant in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Tuesday, killing three people and wounding 15 in an attack thought to have been carried out by Islamist militants, police and doctors said.

Reuters - French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin made an unexpected visit on Tuesday to a Paris suburb that has been hit by riots as parliament prepared to approve an extension of emergency powers.

AFP - Japanese Princess Sayako, the emperor's only daughter, quit the world's oldest monarchy and married a commoner, setting out for a new life at age 36 as a middle-class housewife.

AFP - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice secured an agreement from Israel for the opening of the Gaza Strip's borders after warnings by the Palestinians that the territory would become a giant prison.

AFP - A car bomb has torn through an outlet of a US fast food chain in Pakistan's largest city Karachi, killing at least three people and wounding more than a dozen, police said.

KABUL (Reuters) - One American soldier was killed and another wounded on Tuesday when their armoured vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in southeastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said in a statement,

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel on Tuesday of trying to avoid peace talks and push Palestinians into civil war by insisting that militants be disarmed ahead of any negotiations on statehood.

MADRID (Reuters) - A judge is investigating allegations the CIA used a Spanish airport as a base for transporting Islamic terrorism suspects, Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said on Tuesday.

PARIS (Reuters) - World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz piled on pressure for a global trade deal, saying on Tuesday progress in poverty reduction depended on clinching an accord.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI on Tuesday arrested a 19-year-old woman suspected of robbing four Virginia banks while apparently talking on her cell phone, local media said.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Princess Sayako, the only daughter of Japan's Emperor Akihito, wed a commoner in a private ceremony at a Tokyo hotel on Tuesday, losing her privileged status as a member of the imperial family.

AP - Retail sales performed far better than expected in October as consumers took encouragement from falling gasoline prices to head back to the shopping malls.

AP - The only daughter of Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko married a childhood friend Tuesday and began life as a commoner after moving out of the royal palace and giving up the title of princess so the wedding could take place.

AP - Roger Federer survived his second match unscathed at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup on Tuesday, a big relief for organizers of the injury-hit tournament.

MADRID (Reuters) - A judge is investigating allegations the CIA used a Spanish airport as a base for transporting Islamic terrorism suspects, Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge delayed the sentencing trial of September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui by one month and ordered a two-stage process to determine whether he will receive the death penalty.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman nominee Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday U.S. headline inflation was currently above rates desirable in the long run but focusing on the long-term trend was most important for monetary policy.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is investigating allegations of abuse after more than 160 detainees were found locked in an Interior Ministry bunker in Baghdad, many of them beaten and malnourished and some apparently tortured.

AP - Seniors can begin signing up today for Medicare prescription drug plans. In most states, at least 40 plans are being offered. Some offer prescription drug coverage only. Others offer the full range of Medicare services, such as visits to a doctor's office.

AP - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito distanced himself Tuesday from his 1985 comments that there was no constitutional right to abortion, telling a senator in private that he had merely been "an advocate seeking a job."

AP - Wholesale prices rose by 0.7 percent in October, while retail sales were far better than expected.

AP - The cost of mailing a letter will increase to 39 cents on Jan. 8.

AP - Lee Ann Womack and Brad Paisley are the most nominated artists in tonight's Country Music Association awards, which, for the first time, will not be presented in Nashville. Tonight's show is at Madison Square Garden in New York.

AP - It turns out dogs are more than man's best friend. They're pretty good at making the sick feel better, too, in ways that can be measured.

AP - The Baseball Writers Association of America hands out its final postseason award today: the National League Most Valuable Player. The top candidates appear to be St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, Atlanta's Andruw Jones and Derrek Lee of the Chicago Cubs.

Reuters - Iraq is investigating allegations of abuse after more than 170 prisoners were found locked in an Interior Ministry bunker in Baghdad, many of them beaten and malnourished and some apparently tortured.

AP - The Republican-controlled Senate easily defeated a Democratic effort Tuesday to pressure President Bush to outline a timetable for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. It then overwhelmingly endorsed a weaker statement calling on the administration to explain its Iraq policy.

AP - The federal agency that insures the private pensions of 44 million workers said Tuesday that its deficit was $22.8 billion in 2005, as big airlines in bankruptcy dumped their pension liabilities.

AP - Prodded by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israel and the Palestinians agreed Tuesday on details for opening the borders of the Gaza Strip and allowing freer movement for Palestinians elsewhere, a significant step toward an eventual peace deal between historic enemies.

AP - Major League Baseball players and owners agreed to toughen penalties for steroid use to a 50-game suspension for a first failed test and a lifetime ban for a third, The Associated Press learned.

Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday joined President George W. Bush's counter-offensive against Iraq war critics, retracing what Rumsfeld called the "actual history" of U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Reuters - Israel and the Palestinians reached a deal on Gaza border crossings on Tuesday following intense negotiations brokered by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Defense Ministry sources said.

Reuters - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted to let terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison appeal their verdicts by military tribunals to federal courts, but sustained its earlier vote to otherwise curb their access to federal court protections.

AFP - French deputies debated legislation for a three-month extension of its state of emergency, despite the country's gradual return to normal after nearly three weeks of suburban unrest.

AFP - Fifty-three finches from Taiwan have died at a British quarantine centre amid an outbreak of the most deadly strain of avian flu, the government said.

AFP - Iraq faced a fresh prison scandal after Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari ordered an investigation into reports of abuse at a clandestine interior ministry detention facility.

AP - Israel and the Palestinians, under strong U.S. pressure, reached an agreement Tuesday to open Gaza's borders starting Nov. 25, a step vital to turning the economically crippled territory into a success in the wake of Israel's withdrawal.

AP - Albert Pujols won his first National League MVP award, beating Andruw Jones in a close vote Tuesday.

Reuters - Showing mounting discontent among Republicans over progress in the Iraq war, the U.S. Senate resolved on Tuesday that Iraqis should start taking the lead in their own security next year to allow a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Reuters - U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito on Tuesday downplayed a 1985 job application in which he opposed abortion, saying that as a federal judge he rules on law without personal opinion, a Democratic senator said.

Reuters - Ben Bernanke, President George W. Bush's pick to lead the Federal Reserve, vowed on Tuesday to protect both price stability and maximum employment should the Senate confirm him for the job -- tackling concerns on Wall Street and Capitol Hill.

AFP - French deputies approved legislation for a three-month extension of its state of emergency, despite the country's gradual return to normal after nearly three weeks of suburban unrest.

AFP - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won nearly 60 percent of votes in Liberia's elections and was poised to become Africa's first elected woman president, it was announced, as a probe continued into claims of vote fraud from her rival, footballer George Weah.

AP - The Republican-controlled Senate easily defeated a Democratic effort Tuesday to pressure President Bush to outline a timetable for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. It then overwhelmingly endorsed a weaker statement calling on the administration to explain its Iraq policy.

AP - Iraq's prime minister said Tuesday that 173 Iraqi detainees — malnourished and showing signs of torture — were found at an Interior Ministry basement lockup seized by U.S. forces in Baghdad. The discovery appeared to validate Sunni complaints of abuse by the Shiite-controlled ministry.

AP - An 18-year-old man accused of killing his girlfriend's parents and fleeing with her to Indiana was flown back to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to face murder and kidnapping charges.

AP - Two kidney dialysis patients from Argentina have received the world's first blood vessels grown in a lab dish from snippets of their own skin, a promising step toward helping people with a variety of diseases.

AP - Major league players and owners agreed to toughen penalties for steroid use to a 50-game suspension for a first failed test, 100 games for a second and a lifetime ban for a third.

Reuters - An increasingly uneasy Republican majority backed a U.S. Senate resolution on Tuesday that could pave the way for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq but rejected Democrats' demands to set a timetable.

KYOTO, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush urged China on Wednesday to act to bring more flexibility to its currency system and to rein in the yawning U.S.-China trade imbalance.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Chinese-born engineer for a defense contractor and two of his family members already charged with stealing information about Navy warships were indicted on Tuesday on an additional charge of acting as agents of China.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is 'The Most Influential Man in the World,' according to Esquire magazine.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is nearly 150 years old and under fresh attack, but thanks to him scientists today understand the danger bird flu poses to humans, curators of a new Darwin exhibit say.

AP - President Bush prodded China on Wednesday to grant more political freedom to its 1.3 billion people and held up archrival Taiwan as a society that successfully moved from repression to democracy as it opened its economy.

AP - The GOP-controlled Senate rejected a Democratic call Tuesday for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq but urged President Bush to outline his plan for "the successful completion of the mission" in a bill reflecting a growing bipartisan unease with his Iraq policies.

AP - Congressional budget negotiators have decided to take back $125 million in Sept. 11 aid from New York, which had fought to keep the money to treat sick and injured ground zero workers, lawmakers said Tuesday.

AP - High doses of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor were no better at preventing major heart problems than regular doses of rival Zocor, according to the latest study on efforts to aggressively treat the conditions released Tuesday.

AP - Ending a weeklong standoff, Johnson & Johnson agreed Tuesday to acquire the struggling medical device manufacturer Guidant Corp. for $21.5 billion, about 15 percent less than its initial offer last year.

AFP - US President George W. Bush called on China to grant its people broader religious and political freedoms and urged Beijing to live up to pledges to resolve trade disputes with Washington.

AFP - The United States on suspended its disputed military trials for "war on terror" detainees after a ruling by a federal judge.

Reuters - Three gunmen pop up behind some rocks near Lebanon's rugged border with Syria.

AP - With its country twang intact, the CMA Awards held its first shindig in New York Tuesday night, with Madison Square Garden transformed into the Grand Ole Opry with rootsy performances by Lee Ann Womack, Sara Evans and Rascal Flatts.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday that China was taking the first steps toward democratic reform but needed to do more and he held up Taiwan as a model of a free and prosperous society.

KYOTO, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged China to move further to allow political and religious freedoms, and he held up Taiwan as a model for Asia of a free and democratic society.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Chinese-born engineer for a defense contractor and two of his family members, previously charged with stealing information about Navy warships, were indicted on Tuesday with acting as agents of China.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation to encourage greater transparency and accountability in the World Bank and other international lending institutions has been signed into law by President George W. Bush.

AP - The CMA Awards held its first shindig in New York with its country twang intact Tuesday night, as Madison Square Garden was transformed into the Grand Ole Opry with rootsy performances from Lee Ann Womack, Gretchen Wilson, Sara Evans and Rascal Flatts.

AP - The latest fight in the U.S. beer battle is a matter of taste. Miller Brewing Co. says rival Anheuser-Busch has altered Bud Light in the past year to make it more bitter and bubbly, rolling out the claim about Bud Light in national television ads that began airing Friday. The company said data it has collected show Bud Light's bitterness and carbonation rose from last year.