Help for fire victims...Auto bailout talk...White House on holiday travel

LOS ANGELES (AP) Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking the Bush administration to declare Southern California a federal disaster site. Three Southern California fires have destroyed about 1,000 homes and apartments and burned 64 square miles. The mayor of Los Angeles says President-elect Barack Obama has contacted him to offer what help he could.

Washington (AP) The White House is restating its position on a possible bailout for the U.S. auto industry. A spokeswoman says the administration is absolutely against using part of the $700 billion financial bailout plan to help Detroit. Auto industry executives will be on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to make their case for help.

WASHINGTON (AP) The White House is signaling that the Pentagon will open more airspace to ease the holiday travel crunch. Air corridors that are used for military exercises may be open to commercial flights, creating a "Thanksgiving express lane." The air space was opened for holiday travel last year.

NEW YORK (AP) A Pakistani woman accused of trying to kill a U.S. soldier and FBI agents in Afghanistan has been found mentally unfit for trial. A court-ordered psychological evaluation has determined the woman (Aafia Siddiqui) is not able to properly help with her defense.

NEW YORK (AP) A tentative agreement calls for Google to pay $125 million to settle two copyright lawsuits. Book authors and publishers had challenged Google's plans for book scanning. The deal may put millions of out-of-print texts online. A judge has initially signed-off on the settlement, but it still needs court approval.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 11-17-08 2247CST | save this article / add to your favorites list