Avoiding protectionism...Obama appointments...Nebraska's last safe-haven teen

LIMA, Peru (AP) Leaders at the APEC summit in Peru, including President George W. Bush, are pledging to avoid protectionism. But the gathering has shied away from any new proposals on the financial crisis because of somebody who wasn't there: President-elect Barack Obama.

Washington (AP) President-elect Barack Obama has named longtime spokesman Robert Gibbs to be his White House press secretary. In a surprise, Obama chose a campaign outsider to be White House communications director. Ellen Moran is executive director of the Washington group EMILY's List.

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is urging Barack Obama to get involved in Mideast peacemaking efforts immediately after he becomes president. Abbas wants Obama to endorse a pan-Arab initiative that offers full peace with Israel in return for withdrawing from the West Bank, Gaza and parts of Jerusalem.

KIMBALL, Neb. (AP) Nebraska officials say a 14-year-old California boy has become the last child reported abandoned under the state's safe-haven law before the law was changed. Effective today, such drop-offs are limited to infants no more than 30 days old.

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) Betty James, who co-founded the company that makes the Slinky, has died at a hospital in Philadelphia. She was 90. James, whose husband left her and the company to join a religious cult, beat the odds as a single mother in the late 1950s to become a successful executive.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 11-22-08 1744CST | save this article / add to your favorites list