Top Stories - AP

KABUL - Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai promised Thursday to prosecute corrupt government officials and end a culture of impunity, speaking during an inauguration closely watched by the international community for signs that his administration is moving beyond the cronyism and graft of the past five years.

NEW ORLEANS - The federal government could be vulnerable to billions of dollars in claims after a judge ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers' failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding in Hurricane Katrina.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a courthouse in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing 19 people in the latest attack in an onslaught by Islamist militants retaliating against an army offensive near the Afghan border.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - President Barack Obama is now confirming what many have long suspected: He will miss his January deadline to close the Guantanamo prison — partly because he cannot persuade other nations to take the detainees.

CHICAGO - Two Chicago men accused of developing what federal prosecutors call a blueprint for a terrorist assault on a Danish newspaper also are being investigated for possible involvement in planning the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, according to authorities in that country.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tapped a former senior defense official to lead a broad Pentagon review of the circumstances surrounding the Fort Hood shootings, The Associated Press has learned.

LOS ANGELES - Nicole Richie has been admitted to a Los Angeles hospital and is being treated for pneumonia. Her representative says she's doing well.

CHICAGO - Baseball plans to cut down on off days during the postseason next year.

WASHINGTON - From opposite ends of the globe, President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder firmly rejected criticism Wednesday of the planned New York trial of the professed Sept. 11 mastermind and predicted Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be exposed as a murderous coward, convicted and executed.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Blessed with a Friday off school, 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante dug two holes in the ground to be used as a grave, authorities said. For the next week, she attended classes, all the while plotting the right time for a murder, they said.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - Authorities investigating six family members accused in a series of sexual assaults involving young relatives dating back to the 1980s seized booklets and magazines depicting incest from a family home.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - College students ditched class, employees skipped work and some huddled in the cold overnight just to make sure they get an orange wristband Wednesday that would let them meet Sarah Palin.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - A wild turkey that's taken up residence at a New Jersey tollbooth and spends its days scooting around 18-wheelers won't have to dodge Thanksgiving traffic. State Fish and Wildlife officials netted the bird Wednesday after failed attempts during the weekend.

WASHINGTON - A senior Afghan official allegedly took a $20 million bribe to steer a copper mining project to a Chinese company, a glaring example of the claims of corruption clouding the Obama administration's deliberations over expanding the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - After years of working with national teams, Davey Johnson is returning to the Nationals. The longtime major league manager joined the front office of the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. The 66-year-old Johnson will work as a senior adviser to general manager Mike Rizzo.

NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. - The split over gay clergy within the country's largest Lutheran denomination has prompted a conservative faction to begin forming a new Lutheran church body separate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. - A 37-year-old father irate over hearing his 15-year-old son had sexual contact with a 3-year-old girl made the teen strip at gunpoint, marched him to a vacant lot and shot him to death despite pleas from the boy and his mother, a relative said.

BEREA, Ohio - Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn has been fined by the NFL for his low hit on Baltimore's Terrell Suggs. After throwing an interception in Monday night's 16-0 loss to the Ravens, Quinn dived at Suggs' knees while trying to bring down cornerback Chris Carr, who had picked him off. Suggs had to leave the game and could miss significant playing time.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Robert C. Byrd became history's longest-serving member of Congress on Wednesday, earning a formal salute from the Senate and President Barack Obama for his nearly 57 years of service.

WASHINGTON - Women should continue getting regular mammograms starting at age 40, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday, moving to douse confusion caused by a task-force recommendation two days earlier.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Power-hungry TVs will be banned from store shelves in California after state regulators Wednesday adopted a first-in-the-nation mandate to reduce electricity demand.

NAIROBI, Kenya - Guards aboard the Maersk Alabama used guns and a sound blaster Wednesday to repel the second pirate attack in seven months on the U.S. vessel at a time when ships are increasingly hiring armed security teams to thwart hijackings.

JERUSALEM - Israel broke ground on a new housing complex for Jews in east Jerusalem on Wednesday, brushing off President Barack Obama's criticism that construction in the disputed part of the holy city undermines efforts to relaunch Mideast peace talks.

NEW YORK - The Los Angeles Angels could have crumbled when pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a car accident in April, overcome by waves of grief and sadness.

Washington Redskins kick returner Rock Cartwright remembers his brain "shaking like a bell" when he was walloped in a game against the New York Giants a few years ago.

NEW YORK - Janet Jackson says she recognized her brother Michael's drug problem, and tried to help him, but that he rebuffed those attempts to intervene. "You can't make 'em drink the water," Jackson told ABC News in an interview airing Wednesday. When asked if her brother was in denial about his addiction, she replied, "Possibly."

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will face an ethics panel to answer charges that he may have violated state law, which his lawyer said would give the once-popular politician a chance to present his side in an investigation into his travel and campaign finance practices.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Starry eyed children around the world are writing letters to the jolly man at the North Pole, but this holiday season they'll not likely to get a response from Santa or his helpers.