Coming at you Friday:

• Deja vu in the rear view: The House Financial Services Committee holds a repeat hearing on how Detroit's auto leaders plan to stabilize their industry with $34 billion in taxpayer funds.

• More bad economic data on the way. The Labor Department delivers the unemployment figures for November and the Federal Reserve updates consumer credit for October.

• Neel Kashkari, the Treasury's man behind the TARP, delivers an update on the big bank bailout and comments on the state of the financial markets.

• Washington and Moscow are expected to begin the next round of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires next December.

• O.J. Simpson and Clarence Stewart will be sentenced in Las Vegas for kidnapping and armed robbery involving two sports-memorabilia dealers. The judge is known for stern lectures and stiff sentences.

• This evening President Bush speaks at the Saban Forum on the Middle East.

• In Austria, it's the night of the living Krampus. Recreating a pagan ritual, young men dress up in elaborate, furry, demon garb and roam the streets with rusty chains and bells, scaring the Santa Claus out of children and adults alike.

A military jury has acquitted a New York Army National Guard soldier in the bombing deaths of two officers in Iraq in 2005.

Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez was accused of "fragging" Capt. Phillip Esposito of New York and 1st Lt. Louis Allen of Pennsylvania. They were killed when an anti-personnel mine exploded outside their quarters. All belonged to the 42nd Infantry Division.

Witnesses said Esposito believed Martinez was lax in operating the unit's supply room, and their relationship was strained.

The verdict brought an outburst from Allen's widow, The Fayetteville Observer says.

“He slaughtered our husbands, and that’s it,” screamed Barbara Allen. "You murdered my husband.”

The judge then cleared the Fort Bragg courtroom.

Knut, the Berlin Zoo's superstar polar bear (and cash cow), marks his second birthday tomorrow. It might be his last in the German capital.

Now fully grown and weighing nearly 450 pounds, Knut is outgrowing his enclosure and approaching the age when certain animal urges need fulfilling. He lives in a small part of the grotto, which also houses his parents (Lars and Tosca) and two older female bears. Zookeepers say they can’t afford to build new living quarters, and it's time to find him a mate — even if that means sending him elsewhere.

"The survival of the species is more important than any individual," bear keeper Heiner Kloes told The Associated Press today. "I won't hang on to Knut if it means keeping him with an old lady."

The Neumuenster Zoo has first rights to Knut because it owns his father.

"If Berlin doesn't want to build a new enclosure — or expand one of the existing ones — we'll need to find a new place for him," said the zoo's manager, Peter Druewa. "We don't have any more room."

Naturally, Knut's legions of adoring fans are upset. Thousands have signed online petitions calling on Berlin to keep Knut, and a protest is planned for tomorrow's low-key birthday, which will feature a cake of fruit but no hoopla like last year. They want the zoo to spend some of the millions — around $8.6 million — that Knut has generated in profits from stuffed bears, T-shirts, mugs and DVDs bearing his image. The zoo says he was responsible for a 27% increase in visitors last year.

No matter, says Druewa.

"He will be in Berlin over Christmas, but I'm not so sure about Easter," he told the DPA news agency.

That would be just fine with Knut's late handler, Thomas Doerflein, according to the Deutsche Welle network. Doerflein raised Knut by hand after his mother abandoned him and his twin, who died.

"I hope Knut will move to a nice zoo outside of Berlin where he can be with his own kind and maybe even father children," Doerflein said in an interview before his death in September. "He should lose his close bond to humans and just be a polar bear."

(Knut in his outdoor enclosure at the Berlin Zoo today. He turns 2 tomorrow. Photo by Franka Bruns, AP.)

Stocks ended a three-day rally today, driven down by mounting unemployment, falling oil prices and talk of bankruptcy for General Motors. It was the first losing day in the past eight sessions.

The Dow Jones dropped 2.5% (215 points) to end at 8,376; the S&P 500 closed down 2.9% (25 points) at 845; the Nasdaq slid 3.1% (46 points) to 1,445; and the Russell 2000 fell 3% (14 points) to 439. (Investment guru Bill Gross of Pimco weighs in on "Dow 5,000 redux.")

Traders sold off on news of the highest jobless claims in 26 years and big jobs cuts by AT&T and DuPont. They were also bracing for tomorrow's release of the November unemployment report.

"As bad as you think it is, it’s worse," Diane Garnick, an investment strategist at Invesco Ltd. in New York, told Bloomberg. "The chances of the economy turning around in the first half of 2009 are declining rapidly because unemployed people can’t spur economic growth."

Reinforcing that point, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called on Congress and the Treasury to speed up efforts to halt foreclosures, which are dragging down Americans and the economy.

Forbes' columnist known as Doctor Doom, Nouriel Roubini, writes about the bind we're in as "stag-deflation marches on."

The solution? "Only new thinking will save the global economy."

An Argentine cruise ship carrying 122 people is stranded off the coast of Antarctica, news agencies report.

Bloomberg News quotes an Argentinian naval officer who says the Ushuaia ran aground.

Update at 2:38 p.m. ET: We found photos on Flickr tagged "MV Ushuaia."

Update at 7:18 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's cruise captain, Gene Sloan, has filed this update, which corrects some erroneous information from The Associated Press and Reuters.

A grand jury just indicted the former head of Louisiana's state-controlled Citizens Property Insurance Corp. on more than a dozen counts of theft, The Times-Picayune and AP report.

"The grand jury returned the indictment against Terry Lisotta, who was criticized in two audits during the past 15 months by Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot's office for ringing up more than $285,000 in expenses between 2003 and 2006 and charging the expenses to Citizens or two other state-related insurance entities," the paper says.

The list of dubious expenses is said to include tickets to sporting events and a party for the ex-CEO's daughter.

Update at 2:18 p.m. ET: Here's an excerpt from the summary of an audit that was released last month:

We question approximately $106,579 of the $285,249 in expenses incurred by Mr. Lisotta. These are expenses that may not have been incurred, appear personal in nature, or appear to have no legitimate business purpose. This $106,579 includes the $25,702 of questioned expenses identified in our previous report. In addition, approximately $52,247 of Mr. Lisotta’s expenses was for entertainment expenses that appear both unnecessary and extravagant. Some of these entertainment expenses give the appearance of a conflict of interest. Also, approximately $174,992 of the $285,249 in expenses incurred by Mr. Lisotta was not properly documented. Finally, Mr. Lisotta and other Citizens officials accepted approximately $35,143 in gifts and entertainment from a vendor doing business with Citizens.

Update at 2:20 p.m. ET: Defense lawyer David Courcelle tells AP that Lisotta is innocent of the charges and plans to surrender in the next few days. AP describes the insurance company as "state-backed."

When the Bushes move out of the White House, they'll move into a house they've purchased in the Preson Hollow neighborhood of Dallas, according to the White House. "The president and Mrs. Bush do not have occupancy of the home, and therefore, no additional details will be provided," Sally McDonough, a spokeswoman for the first lady, says in a statement.

The Dallas Morning News has more information about the new Bush homestead.

When it comes to murders, a police officer tells the Tyler Morning Telegraph that the brutal killing of 13-month-old Amora Carson "is the worst of all of them."

The little girl's battered body was found Tuesday at her family's trailer in Henderson, Texas. "The mother later confessed that [Blaine] Milam killed the child," sheriff's Lt. Reynold Humber says, according to the News-Journal. "They told us the child was possessed and they were trying to rid it of demons."

Milam and Jessica Carson now face capital murder charges. At arraignment, the judge set bond at $2 million for each defendant, the Henderson Daily News reports.

“The child had been beaten so much we couldn’t tell how many times it was hit and then there were more than 20 bite marks on her body," Humber tells the Telegraph. "The bottom line regardless of any stories is that they killed that sweet little innocent child.”

Milam is listed on the state registry of convicted sex offenders. He was sentenced to five years on probation in August for the aggravated sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl, records show.

The Henderson paper says Amora's biological father is serving with the Army in Korea.

(Photo of Humber with a portrait of Amora taken yesterday by Jaime R. Carrero, Telegraph via AP.)

Ronen Zvulun of Reuters took this photograph as Israeli police officers evicted Jewish settlers from a building today in the divided West Bank city of Hebron. Ynetnews says 20 people were injured in the hour-long operation.  "A policeman was moderately hurt in the eyes from acid poured on him during the evacuation," the paper reports.

A Nigerian "witch doctor" was charged with murder after he told a TV interviewer that he has "killed up to 110 people who was identified to be a witch," news organizations report.

BBC News says Bishop Sunday Ulup-Aya later clarified his remarks, telling police that "he had only killed the 'witches' inside, not the children."

A government spokesman tells BBC News that investigators rescued two children when they searched the suspect's house. "We have him on tape admitting to killing," Aniekan Umanah says. "It is now up to him to prove otherwise."

Executives from the Big Three automakers are back on Capitol Hill, where they're trying to convince lawmakers to authorize a $34 billion rescue package. Here are a few links that will allow you to watch the Senate Banking Committee hearing as it unfolds:

• official Senate feed

• AP feed

• C-Span feed

A Minnesota woman is charged with defrauding her son of $7,000 while he was deployed in Iraq with the Marines, the Rochester Post-Bulletin reports.

Rhonda Wangen, 49, faces three felony charges in Fillmore County, Minn.

"According to the criminal complaint, Wangen's son became aware of the alleged fraud when he tried to buy an engagement ring in February," the paper says. "He was denied credit and found out that someone had taken out a credit card in his name. When he called his mother, she told him she had applied for the card and was sorry. Her son canceled the card and discovered that his mother had been using his checking account to make payments."

The number of initial jobless claims fell a bit last week, dropping from 530,000 to 509,000, the Labor Department just reported. "The 4-week moving average was 524,500, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average of 518,250," Labor's Employment and Training Administration says.

Bloomberg News says more than 4 million people received unemployment checks in mid-November. That's said to be the highest number since 1982. "Factories, banks and retailers may step up firings as sales weaken, prompting even bigger declines in consumer spending and pushing the U.S. into what may become the longest recession in the postwar era," the news agency reports.

Lost & Found: Two camels were found wandering the streets of Juarez, Mexico, according to the El Paso Times. The Associated Press says a caretaker eventually lured Yull and Tobi back to the warehouse where they were being held by a businessman who plans to build an amusement park near the U.S. border.

This just in from the Associated Press: "AT&T says it will cut 12,000 jobs, or 4% of its work force, and slash capital spending."

Good morning. It's Thursday.

The United Automobile Workers is willing to make "major concessions" to help save the Big Three, according to The New York Times.

The Washington Post says officials at Treasury are "strongly considering" a plan that would encourage mortgage lenders to issue loans with "exceptionally low interest rates."

Financial Times reports that a record number of European companies "are on the verge of default because of deepening financial problems."

In religious news, some 700 "renegade churches" have broken from the American Episcopal Church to establish a new Anglican Church in North America because of their discomfort with "liberal biblical views," Los Angeles Times reports.

Let's begin the day with a feel-good story.

The Washington Post says a Virginia businessman is spending up to $1.6 million "to bring to the inauguration disadvantaged people, terminally ill patients, wounded soldiers and others down on their luck."

Earl Stafford, 60, has reserved 300 rooms at the J.W. Marriott near the White House and plans to host two  presidential balls -- dubbed "The People's Inauguration" -- when Barack Obama becomes president.

"There's a saying in the Bible," he tells the Post. "To whom much is given, much is required."

Stafford, who runs a defense contractor called Unitech, plans to work with the Urban League and others when it comes to the guest list. He hopes to recruit other sponsors, too.

"We've gotten away from those core values that made America great," he tells the paper. "We just need to get back to caring about one another."

What's up Thursday:

• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks at a Fed forum on "concentrated poverty."

• Economic reports: weekly jobless claims and mortgage rates, plus October factory orders. Also, major retailers report their November sales numbers.

• U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is in Beijing for the Strategic Economic Dialogue (photo).

• Antitrust experts, retailers and consumer advocates hold a news conference to discuss the effects of new restrictions on price fixing. Participants include Federal Trade Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour.

• President and Laura Bush will light the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse of the White House. This year's illumination will come from energy-efficient LEDs.

• In Times Square, the first fully wind- and solar-powered billboard goes into hyper-action.

(Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson listens to a speech by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan at the opening of the Strategic Economic Dialogue. Photo by Greg Baker, AP.)

Former (and disgraced) New York governor Eliot Spitzer has landed a new gig as a columnist for Slate. He'll write twice a month on finance, regulation and government.

His first column has just been posted.

The New York Observer had the scoop, and The New York Times has followed up.

To refresh your memory, Spitzer, a Democrat, resigned in March after he was exposed as a regular customer of a prostitution ring.

The Associated Press just filed an alert that a Senate leader — it doesn't say which one — says there are not enough votes in Congress to help U.S. automakers by tapping the $700 billion Wall Street bailout fund.

Update at 6:17 p.m. ET: AP has clarified that the remarks were made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. "I just don't think we have the votes to do that now," he said of the Democrats' plan to use $34 billion from the banking fund.

Another up-down day on Wall Street that ended up for the major indices despite further bad news for the economy.

The Dow Jones rose 2% (172 points) to 8,591; the S&P 500 gained 2.5% (21 points) to 870; the Nasdaq finished 2.9% higher (42 points) to 1,492; and the Russell 2000 ended with a gain of 2.7% (12 points) to 453. The last hour of trading provided the lift.

Internet and housing stocks got a boost from strong online shopping and a record jump in mortgage applications as rates have dipped. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Treasury Department is considering reducing rates to 4.5% for new loans. That's about 1 percentage point lower than the going rate.

Some market watchers see signs of a turnaround.

“More and more, it looks like a bottom,” James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management, told Bloomberg. “Value is clearly there. It’s showing up everywhere now. Value becomes so compelling that you overcome your fears.”

Read more on the day's action from the AP, MarketWatch and the Financial Times.

The New York Times is quoting an anonymous source who says former members of Pakistan's military and intelligence service helped train the Mumbai attackers.

The paper says this source, identified as a "former Defense Department official," told reporters that the U.S. government has no evidence that the terrorists were linked to the Pakistani government.

At least 10 men carried out a three-day attack last week that killed more than 170 people and wounded hundreds more in the Indian financial capital.

Update at 5:25 p.m. ET: The Indian Express is reporting that one of two SIM cards recovered from the mobile phones of dead terrorists was issued by a company in New Jersey. U.S. authorities are investigating.

Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki has been indicted on charges that he misappropriated funds during his tenure as state treasurer, according to the Associated Press.

Krolicki has been the target of a grand jury investigation into "felony charges of misusing public funds" associated with a college savings program, Reno Gazette-Journal reports.

AP says his former chief of staff, Kathryn Besser, was also named in the indictment.

The Washington Post says a federal prosecutor has been actively investigating the Justice Department's removal of nine U.S. attorneys.

Nora Dannehy, a prosecutor who's based in Connecticut, "has been meeting with defense lawyers, dispatching subpoenas and seeking information about the events" that took place about two years ago, according to the paper.

In late September, Attorney General Michael Mukasey asked her to look into the allegations that high-level officials had the prosecutors fired for political reasons.

"Internal investigators said they had been stymied by the refusal of key witnesses, including former presidential adviser Karl Rove and former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers, to cooperate," the paper says.

Dannehy isn't likely to face those problems.

This just in from the Associated Press: "United Auto Workers to delay automakers' payments to health care trust, restart contract talks."

The Big Three automakers are seeking $34 billion in financial assistance from the federal government. Top executives are due on Capitol Hill later this week.

Update at 12:43 p.m. ET: UAW President Ron Gettelfinger says "we're going to make modifications, we're not opening the contract, if you will." The final decision on changes will rest with the members, he says.

Update at 12:50 p.m. ET: Chrysler Vice Chairman James Press tells the Associated Press that the collapse of a major American automaker would devastate the nation's economy.

"We're on the brink with the U.S. auto manufacturing industry," Press tells the wire service. "If we have a catastrophic failure of one of these car companies, in this tender environment for the economy, it's a huge blow. It could trigger a depression."

Update at 4:37 p.m. ET: The UAW has posted a Q&A on the "truth about UAW members and the U.S. auto industry."

AP says the sister of a Wal-Mart worker who was trampled on Black Friday is suing the retailer and others, accusing them of allowing the huge crowd to grow out of control as temporary worker Jdimytai Damour opened the doors in Valley Stream, N.Y.

"We’re going to be suing Wal-Mart as well as the owner of the mall, the security company, and we’re contemplating an action against the police and the county of Nassau, although we’re waiting to see what our investigation fleshes out about their involvement," lawyer Jordan Hecht tells Fox News.

Peter Andrews of Reuters took this photograph of a child playing at a refugee camp today in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

International observers estimate that about 250,000 civilians have been displaced since the summer because of ongoing hostilities between rebels and government troops. The World Food Program says it delivered assistance to 564,000 people last month alone. Here's the latest situation report from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

President-elect Barack Obama just announced that he's nominating New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to run the Commerce Department.