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AP Top News at 3:31 a.m. EST - November 27

Rush starts as holiday shopping season revs up

The nation's retailers are ushering in the traditional start of the holiday shopping season with expanded hours and deep discounts on everything from toys to TVs to lure crowds of shoppers. A number of stores, including Walmart and many Old Navy locations, opened on Thanksgiving, hoping to make the most of the extra hours. Toys R Us opened most of its stores at midnight Friday.

Asian stocks tumble amid Dubai fears, dollar slump

HONG KONG (AP) - Asian stock markets tumbled Friday, with Hong Kong and South Korea down about 5 percent, as fears mounted over the fallout from Dubai's massive debt problems and the dollar continued its slide against the Japanese yen. It was the region's second day of losses and followed a rout in European markets. Oil, meanwhile, dived to near $74 a barrel.

Was president in danger from dinner crashers?

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Secret Service maintains that President Barack Obama was never in danger at a state dinner after an uninvited Virginia couple got through security, but it wouldn't comment on whether anyone is screened for radiological or biological weapons. Edwin Donovan, a Secret Service spokesman, said Thursday the agency doesn't discuss the levels of security screening at the White House.

In tobacco-loving Va., bars to quit cold-turkey

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The bluish haze that has hung over the Third Street Diner's bar and booths for decades finally lifts next month as a new anti-smoking law takes hold in Virginia, a huge shift for a state whose tobacco habit dates to the Jamestown settlement some 400 years ago. Starting Dec. 1, Virginia will join dozens of other states that ban smoking in restaurants. Restaurants in Virginia will be allowed to have a smoking area only if they segregate smokers into rooms with ventilation systems separate from those that heat and cool nonsmoking patrons.

NATO teams train Afghans on the front line

NAGHLU, Afghanistan (AP) - By day, French soldiers fight side by side with Afghans during Taliban attacks. By night, their officers share meals, the French trying to muster haute cuisine from military rations, the Afghans offering steamingtype:bold,italic; piles of mutton stew and rice. As President Barack Obama prepares to pour up to 35,000 more U.S. troops into Afghanistan, a much smaller contingent of NATO trainers - many of them European - form a crucial part of the strategy to win the war and get foreign troops home.

New climate targets may not change daily life much

WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans' day-to-day lives won't change noticeably if President Barack Obama achieves his newly announced goal of slashing carbon dioxide pollution by one-sixth in the next decade, experts say. Except for rising energy bills. And how much they'll go up depends on who's doing the calculating.

Man who died in Utah mishap was experienced caver

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A medical student who died Thursday after a daylong effort to rescue him 150 feet underground was an outdoors lover and experienced caver who was expecting the birth of his second child next year, officials and family members said. John Jones, 26, of Stansbury Park, died nearly 28 hours after he got stuck upside-down in Nutty Putty Cave, a popular spelunking site south of Salt Lake City. It was the first known fatality since cavers began exploring the 1,500-foot cave's narrow passageways in the 1960s, cave access manager Michael Leavitt said.

Filipino who lost wife in massacre files candidacy

AMPATUAN, Philippines (AP) - A politician whose wife and relatives were among 57 people massacred in the southern Philippines in an apparent bid to stop him from running for governor filed his candidacy Friday for the election. "Only death can stop me from running," said Ismael Mangudadatu, escorted by soldiers, a police commander and a senior army general. He submitted his documents to the Elections Commission in the Maguindanao provincial capital of Sharrif Aguak.

Air Force captain wins new car on 'Jay Leno Show'

NEW YORK (AP) - An audience member at "The Jay Leno Show" is especially grateful this Thanksgiving. He won a new car. Air Force Capt. Tung Ngo (TUNG' noh) was in the audience filled with men and women of the U.S. military when Leno called his name during Thursday's special holiday program. It was taped at NBC studios in Burbank, Calif., just hours before airtime.

Broncos end 4-game skid with 26-6 win over Giants

DENVER (AP) - The Denver Broncos still have their troubles with the red zone and yellow flags. The dark cloud that hung over them during their month of misery, though, is gone. Kyle Orton drove them on six scoring drives, Matt Prater kicked four field goals and safety Brian Dawkins led a ferocious defense 48 hours after calling a players-only meeting, and the Broncos beat the New York Giants 26-6 Thursday night.

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