International Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

JERUSALEM (AP) , The black-and-white photos show masses of people yearning for independence, celebrating a vote recognizing a state in Palestine. It was a day that generations of pupils would be taught to remember with reverence: Nov. 29.

TOKYO (AP) , The Dalai Lama says Beijing needs to thoroughly investigate the causes behind self-immolations by Tibetans protesting Chinese rule and blamed "narrow-minded Communist officials" for seeing Buddhist culture as a threat.

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT OVER THE PACIFIC (AP) , Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday the Obama administration is nearing a decision in the next few weeks on how many U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan , and for what purposes , after the U.S.-led combat mission ends in 2014.

President Obama's postelection trip to Southeast Asia presages a greater second-term focus on that region, but some foreign-policy analysts say that shouldn't distract from the need to build better alliances with U.S. neighbors, which could be key to restoring the nation's sluggish economy.

The fall of David H. Petraeus as the nation's spy chief was the result of a serious failure of judgment, but it will never erase his long record as a military commander who turned the tide of the war in Iraq and set up new tactics for killing Islamic terrorists, his friends and military observers say.

BEIJING (AP) , China accused the Dalai Lama of allying with Japanese right-wingers in an island dispute as a way of attacking China and blamed him for glorifying a wave of self-immolations among Tibetans. The comments came as state media reported two more Tibetans died after setting themselves on fire.

DENVER , It's traditional for Americans to threaten to move to France or Canada when their candidate loses, but this year some disappointed voters are implementing a different plan. In the wake of the Nov. 6 election, petitions seeking to secede from the union have been filed on behalf of 23 states on the White House website, https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petitions.

A Montgomery County lawmaker is proposing a bill that would ban smoking on all county property , including parking garages and jail , as part of what she called a "filling in the gap stage" for a county that's been at the forefront of the anti-smoking movement. At-large council member Nancy Floreen announced on her blog "Nancy At Large" that she would be introducing the bill Nov. 20.

Commuters may have shorter drive times on the Virginia side of the Capital Beltway with this weekend's opening of 14 miles of four high-occupancy toll lanes , a milestone public-private partnership that is one of the biggest transportation projects of its kind in the country.

BEIJING (AP) , Lei Shujie, a designer in Shanghai, piled up a wish list for the quirky holiday dubbed "Singles Day" that has grown into China's , and possibly the world's , busiest online shopping day. Clothes, a pillow, a cabinet to give a friend , Lei put off buying until Sunday, when retailers promised discounts of up to 70 percent. "The prices are irresistible," she said.

ANALYSIS/OPINION: The Republican Party did not lose last Tuesday's election. It was obliterated, crushed, slaughtered, massacred, squashed, annihilated , and, let's hope, extinguished. For the party...

After an election campaign that featured jobs as a central issue, some of the nation's businesses have responded to President Obama's victory with a series of layoff announcements related to a variety of factors including the New Year's "fiscal cliff."

BEIJING (AP) , The man in line to oversee China's massive but rapidly slowing economy for the coming decade speaks English and comes from a generation of politicians schooled during a time of greater openness to liberal Western ideas than their predecessors.

Four pit bulls attacked a District Heights woman Saturday in a Northeast apartment, according to a D.C. police report, sending her to the hospital with "multiple bite marks, scratches, and bruising." The attack sheds more unflattering light on a breed that has caught the attention of advocacy groups and legislators for reports of bad behavior.

DENVER , Hit the slopes , and then a bong? Marijuana legalization votes last week in Colorado and Washington state don't just set up an epic state-federal showdown on drug laws for residents. The measures also open the door for marijuana tourism.