[December 01, 2008]

AP International NewsBrief at 12:35 p.m. EST

(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) India clears bodies from last Mumbai siege siteMUMBAI, India (AP) _ Soldiers removed the last bodies from the shattered Taj Mahal hotel Monday as India formally demanded Pakistan take "strong action" against those behind the 60-hour siege that left at least 172 people dead. The United States called on Pakistan to fully cooperate with investigations into the attack, which India has blamed on a banned Pakistani militant group, as fresh details emerged about the gunmen and the training that enabled them to thwart Indian commandos for days.

Thai crisis deepens as airport siege intensifiesBANGKOK, Thailand (AP ) _ Thailand's leader attended a Buddhist ritual Monday, seemingly indifferent to a deepening political crisis that has paralyzed his government, shut down two main airports and stranded 300,000 foreigners in the country. The crisis is draining millions of dollars from the country's economy even as Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat appears powerless to remove radical anti-government protesters who have occupied the airports for the past week. He has refused to send in police to evict them for fear of bloodshed, instead making weak pleas for the protesters to go home.

US deaths in Afghanistan drop dramaticallyKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ Only one American serviceman died in Afghanistan in November, a dramatic drop from earlier months that the U.S. military attributed to a campaign targeting insurgent leaders, an improvement in Afghan security forces and the onset of winter. Twice this year, monthly U.S. death tolls in Afghanistan surpassed the monthly toll in Iraq, highlighting the differing trends in the two war zones; security in Iraq has improved while it has deteriorated in Afghanistan.

Iraq: Bombs kill more than 30 in Baghdad, MosulBAGHDAD (AP) _ A series of bombs struck U.S. and Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul on Monday, killing at least 32 people and wounding dozens, Iraqi officials said. The bloody attacks came less than a week after the Iraqi parliament approved a security pact with the United States that lets the Americans stay in Iraq for three more years.

NATO trucks attacked in Pakistan; bomber kills 8PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) _ Militants destroyed trucks ferrying Humvees to Western forces in Afghanistan on Monday in an attack that killed two people and underscored the vulnerability of the crucial supply line. The raid on a terminal in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar came as the country faces rising tensions with its eastern neighbor India in the wake of the terror attacks in Mumbai.

Orphan of slain rabbi in Mumbai leaves for IsraelJERUSALEM (AP) _ The 2-year-old orphan found drenched in the blood of his parents at the besieged Jewish center in Mumbai left India on Monday on an Israeli Air Force jet, accompanied by the Indian woman who rescued him. Moshe Holtzberg's parents, Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, ran the headquarters of the ultra-Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch movement in Mumbai _ one of 10 targets besieged by gunman over the 60-hour rampage.

Report: Russia to upgrade missilesMOSCOW (AP) _ The Russian military will upgrade its missiles in response to U.S. plans for weapons in space, a top Russian general reportedly said Monday. Interfax news agency quoted Russia's Strategic Missile Forces chief, Col.-Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov, as saying that Russia's intercontinental ballistic missiles will be modernized to protect them from space-based components of the U.S. missile defense system.

Historic center of Venice floodedVENICE, Italy (AP) _ The worst flooding in Venice in more than 20 years forced residents and tourists to wade through knee-high water Monday. City officials said the sea level topped 61 inches (156 centimeters) on Monday, well past the 40-inch (110-centimeter) flood mark, following heavy rains. Alarms went off to alert citizens in the morning.

UN conference warned: Don't derail green projectsPOZNAN, Poland (AP) _ The global financial crisis will pass but global warming will be permanent unless nations can unite to contain emissions of climate-changing gases, political leaders and top scientists warned Monday at a U.N. conference. Speaking to 10,000 delegates and environmental advocates, the U.N.'s climate chief said time was running out to meet the deadline on a new climate treaty.

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