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.

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.

Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Pakistan to cooperate fully in the probe into the Mumbai attacks but she also warned India against any action that could stoke regional conflict.

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.

AP - The volcano on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat has burst into action, spewing columns of ash and hurling glowing red rocks that set vegetation and a few buildings ablaze in the island's deserted capital, scientists said Wednesday.

AP - Attacks fell in November to their lowest monthly level since the Iraq war began in 2003, despite recent high-profile bombings aimed at shaking public confidence, a top U.S. commander said Wednesday.

AP - Russia said Wednesday it is sending a warship through the Panama Canal for the first time since World War II, a short journey loaded with symbolic weight: the destroyer will dock at a former U.S. naval base, showcasing Russia's growing influence in the region.

AP - An international doctors' panel appointed by the Roman Catholic Church says it's getting out of the "miracle" business at Lourdes.

AP - It may have seemed like a mirage: Two camels nibbling on a pine tree along a street in this desert metropolis on the Texas border.

AP - The only gunman captured during the terror attack on Mumbai says he was promised that his impoverished family would get $1,250 if he died fighting for militant Islam, security officials said Wednesday.