AMERICAS NEWS AT 0500 GMT

TOP STORIES:

WIKILEAKS

WASHINGTON — Military documents laid bare in the biggest leak of secret information in U.S. history suggest that far more Iraqis died than previously acknowledged during the years of sectarian bloodletting and criminal violence unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. By Anne Gearan and Robert Burns. AP Photos

IRAN-HIKERS

WASHINGTON — Three Americans detained by Iran in July 2009 for alleged illegal entry were on the Iraqi side of the border at the time, according to a U.S. military report that is among a huge cache of documents posted by the WikiLeaks website.

HAITI-DISEASE OUTBREAK

ST. MARC, Haiti — An outbreak of cholera spreads outside a rural valley in central Haiti, intensifying worries the disease could reach squalid tarp camps were hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors live in the capital. Nearly 200 are dead and more than 2,300 ill. By Jacob Kushner. AP Photos. AP Video.

US-SPACEPORT DEDICATION

UPHAM, New Mexico — The dream of rocketing tourists into space edges closer to reality, as the world's first commercial spaceport opened a runway in the New Mexico desert. By Susan Montoya Bryan.

AP Photos.

US-ELECTIONS

LAS VEGAS — President Barack Obama threw his star power behind the Democrats' embattled Senate leader, who finds himself in a tossup campaign against an ultraconservative tea party favorite in America's most-watched Senate race.

AP Photos.

US-RUSSIA-AFGHANISTAN

WASHINGTON — Russia is complaining that the United States has not acted on information the top Russian anti-drug official provided about many narcotics laboratories in Afghanistan. By Desmond Butler.

US-PAKISTAN-AID

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration lays out a five-year, $2 billion military aid package for Pakistan as it presses the Islamabad government to intensify its fight against extremists there and in neighboring Afghanistan. By Matthew Lee. AP Photos.

US-SHARK ATTACK

LOS ANGELES — Matthew Garcia was surfing two feet away from his friend who was bodyboarding when he heard a desperate cry for help. Within seconds, a shark flashed out of the water, bit into his friend's leg and pulled him under in a sea of blood. By Gillian Flaccus.

AP Photos

LINDSAY LOHAN

BEVERLY HILLS, California — Lindsay Lohan is ordered by a judge to remain in rehab until January. In doing so he ends any short-term plans for the actress' comeback, but also followed the recommendations of medical professionals who say the "Mean Girls" star is only beginning to realize the depths of her addiction. By Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney. AP Photo.

GULF OIL SPILL-CORALS

ON THE FLOOR OF THE GULF OF MEXICO — Just 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of where BP's blown-out well spewed millions of gallons of oil into the sea, life appears bountiful despite initial fears that crude could have wiped out many of these delicate deep water habitats. By Brian Skoloff. AP Photos. AP Video.

UN-AFRICAN PEACEKEEPING

UNITED NATIONS — Tension arising from the U.N. Security Council's reliance on African nations to supply peacekeepers came into sharper focus, as diplomats, U.N. and African Union officials sparred over how to stretch their resources to meet the boom in peacekeeping. By John Heilprin.

AP Photo.

PEOPLE-RANDY QUAID

VANCOUVER — Actor Randy Quaid told Canada's immigration board that he and his wife are seeking asylum from "the murderers of Hollywood" and will therefore apply for refugee status in Canada, after they were arrested on U.S. warrants related to vandalism charges. By Jeremy Hainsworth.

AP Photo.

BUSINESS:

CUBA-ECONOMY

HAVANA — Cuba has laid out details of a sweeping tax system for the newly self-employed — a crucial step in the socialist state's plan to convert hundreds of thousands of state workers into self-employed businesspeople. By Paul Haven.

VENEZUELA-CUBA-COMMUNICATIONS

CARACAS, Venezuela — Work to lay an undersea fiber optic cable that will dramatically improve telecommunications in Cuba should begin by February, Cuba's ambassador to Venezuela says. By Ian James.

CANADA-BHP-POTASH CORP

REGINA, Saskatchewan — Saskatchewan's premier says that BHP Billiton "can't overcome" his concerns about a foreign takeover of Potash Corp. and he asserted Canada's prime minister made a mistake when he called the company American-controlled. By Rob Gillies.