Executives from the Big Three auto companies were sent back to Detroit to assess where they went wrong in congressional hearings in Washington, D.C., in which they failed to make their case that the industry should get a $25 billion bailout. (Today)

President-elect Barack Obama has settled on former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of state, following a high-stakes courtship that is expected to lead to a formal announcement after the Thanksgiving holiday, aides to both said. (Today)

At the same spot where U.S. forces helped Iraqis topple a statue of Saddam Hussein in 2003, protesters yesterday tore down an effigy of President Bush and set it afire during a protest over plans to keep American troops in Iraq through 2011. (Today)

In a spiraling probe into corruption at top levels of Mexican law enforcement, authorities yesterday said the nation's former anti-drug chief had accepted $450,000 to tip off traffickers. (Today)

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- A radical Islamic group in Somalia yesterday said it will fight the pirates holding a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil. (Today)