• Arkansas officials seize 6 Alamo compound children 12/3/2008, 7:16 p.m. EST
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas child welfare officials seized six more children Wednesday from the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries as authorities in California visited another church compound, officials said.

• Quake with magnitude of 6.1 hits northern Japan 12/3/2008, 7:12 p.m. EST
TOKYO (AP) — A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northern Japan on Thursday, the Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

• Small plane crashes east of PR capital 12/3/2008, 7:04 p.m. EST
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico (AP) — Search teams slogged up a muddy, densely-wooded mountainside on Wednesday to locate a small plane with three people on board — including two American tourists — that crashed into a fog-shrouded forest east of Puerto Rico's capital.

• World leaders press UN chief on Myanmar prisoners 12/3/2008, 7:00 p.m. EST
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A letter signed by 112 former presidents and prime ministers urged U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday to return to Myanmar and press its military junta to free all political prisoners.

• US releases first part of drug aid for Mexico 12/3/2008, 6:58 p.m. EST
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. government finally released the first part of a $400 million aid package Wednesday to support Mexico's police and soldiers in their fight against drug cartels.

• Obama is delivering diversity, but some seek more 12/3/2008, 6:54 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama, soon to be the first black U.S. president, is on the road to making good his pledge to have a Cabinet and White House staff that are among most diverse ever, although some supporters are asking him to go even further.

• Arkansas officials seize 6 Alamo compound children 12/3/2008, 6:45 p.m. EST
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas child welfare officials seized six more children Wednesday from the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries as authorities in California visited another church compound, officials said.

• Bodies of 24 migrants wash up on coast of Yemen 12/3/2008, 6:43 p.m. EST
SAN'A, Yemen (AP) — Authorities in Yemen say the bodies of 24 Somalis have washed ashore following an accident involving a boat trying to smuggle migrants.

• Nev.'s lieutenant gov. indicted over college fund 12/3/2008, 6:36 p.m. EST
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A grand jury on Wednesday indicted Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki on charges of mismanaging a multibillion-dollar college savings program when he was state treasurer.

• Bombs found in Mumbai train station a week later 12/3/2008, 6:33 p.m. EST
MUMBAI, India (AP) — Police searching a mound of baggage abandoned amid the carnage of the attack on Mumbai's main train station found two bombs Wednesday — nearly a week after they were left there by gunmen — in a stunning new example of the botched security that has become a major issue in India since the three-day siege.

• Small plane crashes east of PR capital 12/3/2008, 6:31 p.m. EST
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico (AP) — Search teams slogged up a muddy, densely-wooded mountainside on Wednesday to locate a small plane with three people on board — including two American tourists — that crashed into a fog-shrouded forest east of Puerto Rico's capital.

• Police: Shackled Calif. boy jumped fence to escape 12/3/2008, 6:28 p.m. EST
TRACY, Calif. (AP) — After being held captive for nearly a year, an emaciated and shackled 17-year-old boy climbed out a window in the home of his captors and walked into a nearby gym in search of help, police said.

• 22-year sentence — again — for millennium plotter 12/3/2008, 6:28 p.m. EST
SEATTLE (AP) — Rejecting prosecutors' calls for a life term, a federal judge on Wednesday reimposed a 22-year prison sentence for an al-Qaida-trained terrorist convicted of plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport at the turn of the millennium.

• Lots of eggs, but no babies for Galapagos tortoise 12/3/2008, 6:25 p.m. EST
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — By this point in his long life, Lonesome George should be at least a grandfather.

• Court upholds $156M Palestinian terror verdict 12/3/2008, 6:22 p.m. EST
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal appeals court upheld a $156 million judgment Wednesday against three U.S.-based Islamic groups accused of bankrolling terrorism in a landmark civil case.

• Palin files late disclosure for free trips 12/3/2008, 6:21 p.m. EST
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Sarah Palin has added to her financial disclosure forms two free trips that she took nearly two years ago but failed to report.

• Irish, Indian historians share humanities prize 12/3/2008, 6:21 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — Irish historian Peter R. L. Brown and Indian historian Romila Thapar have been chosen as co-recipients of the $1 million John W. Kluge Prize, a Library of Congress achievement award for the study of humanities.

• National parties focus on La. Congress election 12/3/2008, 6:19 p.m. EST
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Cameos by President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President Dick Cheney have brought star power to a hurricane-delayed battle between Democrats and Republicans for an up-for-grabs U.S. House seat.

• Possible Obama pick linked to clemency uproar 12/3/2008, 6:16 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The California congressman in discussions with President-elect Barack Obama to become U.S. trade representative played a role in President Bill Clinton's commuting the prison sentence of a cocaine dealer.

• Experimental cotton unlikely to pose feed hazard 12/3/2008, 6:10 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — An unauthorized strain of genetically modified cotton was accidentally mixed in with other harvested cotton in Texas last month, but government officials said Wednesday they do not believe the incident poses safety concerns.

• Lawsuit: US responsible for man's UAE imprisonment 12/3/2008, 6:09 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge wants the Justice Department to explain its involvement in an American's imprisonment in the United Arab Emirates, where the man's family says he was held and tortured only days after being interviewed by FBI agents.

• Government recommends Kansas for biodefense lab 12/3/2008, 6:02 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government has recommended a site in Kansas for a new $450 million laboratory to study biological threats such as anthrax and foot-and-mouth disease, officials said Wednesday.

• Greenhouse gas emissions increase in US 12/3/2008, 6:00 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The amount of U.S. greenhouse gases flowing into the atmosphere, mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, increased last year by 1.4 percent after a decline in 2006, the Energy Department reported Wednesday.

• Family of NY man trampled by shoppers sue Wal-Mart 12/3/2008, 5:44 p.m. EST
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) — The family of a worker trampled to death in a "Black Friday" crush of bargain hunters at a Long Island Wal-Mart store filed a wrongful-death lawsuit on Wednesday, claiming store ads offering deep discounts "created an atmosphere of competition and anxiety" that led to "crowd craze."

• UK trash man to keep sliced up cash 12/3/2008, 5:35 p.m. EST
LONDON (AP) — British police say a trash collector can hold on to the mound of mutilated cash he found stuffed into a wastebasket in the English town of Lincoln earlier this year.