China announced Thursday that it will lower its carbon emissions relative to the size of its economy by as much as 45 percent by 2020, the official New China News Agency reported, and that Premier Wen Jiabao will participate in international climate negotiations in Copenhagen next month.

The motel room seemed to shrink as days wore on, and their belongings bulged from its one dresser and closet. Papers. Clothes. Hair accessories. Room 267 had become a cramped way station for a family of four, far from what Daverena White had in mind when she decided to buy a house.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of lobbyists are likely to be ejected from federal advisory panels as part of a little-noticed initiative by the Obama administration to curb K Street's influence in Washington, according to White House officials and lobbying experts.

Michaele Salahi spent seven hours in a posh Georgetown salon getting ready for her big night out . She was going to the White House for the Obamas' first state dinner. Creating the perfect hair and makeup for the glamorous blonde for such a special occasion would take time, of course. But then there...

One is a giant of the entertainment world -- a tangle of television networks, a film studio and a stable of hit shows. The other is a cable colossus, the nation's largest provider of cable TV and Internet access. Together, the possibilities are endless.

President Obama celebrated a quiet first Thanksgiving at the White House, telephoning U.S. servicemen and women stationed around the world and spending time in the company of his family and friends.

-- A Nov. 23 A-section article on efforts to legalize marijuana incorrectly said that cocaine is listed as a Schedule One controlled substance. Cocaine is on Schedule Two of the Controlled Substances Act.

UNITED NATIONS -- Stephen J. Rapp, the new U.S. ambassador at large for war crimes, knows what it feels like to be victimized.

LOS ANGELES -- With public attention focused largely on battles over whether gay couples should be able to marry, a less-noticed movement to grant health and other benefits to same-sex partners is gaining significant ground across the country in courtrooms, in legislatures and at the ballot box.

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's factions pulled the country back from crisis Thursday, reaching a tentative compromise on contested legislation to organize elections next year and potentially avoiding a second veto that could have delayed the vote for months.

GOLESTAN, AFGHANISTAN -- The Marine Corps Osprey, an unwieldy, gray contraption that flies like an airplane but lands like a helicopter, raced through the sky before it slowed to a hover and alighted several hundred yards from this tiny village.

BHOPAL, INDIA -- Twenty-five years after poisonous plumes of chemicals leaked from the Union Carbide factory here, survivors are protesting a government plan to open the site to the public.

TEHRAN -- Iranian authorities have confiscated the Nobel Peace Prize medal awarded to Shirin Ebadi in 2003 for her work as a lawyer and human rights activist, a close associate of hers said Thursday.

VIENNA -- The International Atomic Energy Agency probe of Iran's nuclear program is at a dead end because Tehran is not cooperating, the chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Thursday in an unusually blunt expression of frustration four days before he leaves office.

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, told a group of key lawmakers on Thursday that President Obama is engaged in a "thoughtful process" of deciding on his request for additional troops in the region.

More people are expected to shop on Black Friday this year, but some retail experts say the annual shopping bonanza -- so closely watched for signs of customers' willingness to spend -- actually has little bearing on the fate of the holiday season.

In U.S. history, there may have been no better time to own a junk car, a rattling old fridge and a leaking dishwasher.

Under the "Cash for Appliances" program, area locales are expected to receive:

INVESTING World stock markets tumbled Thursday after the Dubai government's flagship investment company sought a six-month reprieve on its debt payments and the U.S. dollar continued its slide against other global currencies.