Update on the latest news, sports, business and entertainment:

RETAIL SALES OUTLOOK National retail group offers weak holiday forecast

NEW YORK (AP) The usually bullish National Retail Federation isn't Painting a rosy picture about holiday sales.

The NRF predicts a 1 percent decline in total sales for November and December combined. The NRF is less optimistic this year than several other groups offering holiday sales forecasts.

Consumers had already cut back during the fall back-to-school season.

So far, holiday 2009 forecasts range from as weak as a 3.5 percent decline from Wells Fargo senior economist Mark Vitner to predictions at the top end from Deloitte Research and TNS Retail Forward that sales will be the same as last year.

Job security is a key factor and the latest government jobs report, issued Friday, fueled more concerns. The figures showed unemployment ticking up to 9.8 percent in September, a 26-year-high.

LETTERMAN Letterman apologizes to wife on Monday's show

NEW YORK (AP) David Letterman has publicly apologized to his wife on CBS' "Late Show," saying she's been "horribly hurt" by his behavior.

The late-night host is vowing to repair his relationship with his wife, Regina Lasko.

Monday's show was the first Letterman taped since Thursday, when he disclosed that he'd had sexual relationships with women who worked for him, and that he had been the victim of an alleged $2 million blackmail threat.

Audience members who attended the taping at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York said Letterman spoke frequently throughout the program about the events. He also joked about the situation with guests Steve Martin and Martin Short.

Robert Halderman, a producer for the CBS true-crime show "48 Hours Mystery," pleaded not guilty last week to extortion charges.

IMMIGRATION-DETENTION REFORMS NEW: Hotels, other sites may house detained immigrants

Washington (AP) Former hotels, Nursing Homes and other sites could be used to hold immigrants who are not criminals or violent.

According to documents obtained by The Associated Press, it's part of a larger plan to reform immigration detention proposed by the homeland security secretary.

Janet Napolitano is proposing that illegal immigrants awaiting deportation be confined according to the risk they may pose and will detail her plan on Tuesday. The reforms were previewed by the agency in August without as much detail.

The alternative sites are intended to cut the costs of detaining immigrants, which reached nearly $2 billion in 2008.

The plan is based on a review of immigration detention by Dora Schriro, Napolitano's former detention adviser. She resigned last month to become commissioner of New York City's jails.

PAKISTAN NEW: Pakistan blames Taliban for UN blast

ISLAMABAD (AP) Pakistan's top security official has blamed Taliban militants for the deadly suicide bombing at the offices of the U.N. food agency in Islamabad.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Tuesday that the Taliban carried out the attack to avenge the Aug. 5 slaying of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone attack.

The bombing at the heavily guarded World Food Program offices in Islamabad on Monday killed five people.

KOREAS-NUCLEAR Report: NKorea nearly restores atomic facilities

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea is reportedly in the final stage of restoring its nuclear facilities.

That's according to a South Korean news agency (Yonhap) that cites a government official. The official says intelligence authorities in both Seoul (sohl) and Washington have reached the conclusion after scrutinizing about 10 atomic facilities in North Korea since April.

It was in April that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il angry over a U.N. rebuke had vowed to restart the country's nuclear program.

The latest report comes as the North's leader has been signaling to China an apparent interest in returning to six-party nuclear disarmament talks.

US-Afghanistan-CLinton-GATES Cabinet secretaries say reevaluation makes sense

WASHINGTON (AP) Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton say the U.S. goals in Afghanistan haven't changed, despite the debate over what to do next.

Both Cabinet secretaries say the goal remains disrupting the al-Qaida terror network.

In a rare joint interview, Clinton and Gates tell CNN that President Barack Obama is right to take his time and reconsider the strategy to accomplish that goal. Clinton says that a "snap decision" about adding U.S. forces would be counterproductive.

Neither Gates nor Clinton revealed their recommendations to Obama, or said how long the reevaluation will take.

Clinton and Gates were interviewed Monday for a CNN broadcast that will air Tuesday.

US-IRAN Cabinet secretaries: Iran talks a limited success

WASHINGTON (AP) Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton say last week's historic joint talks with Iran were a limited success.

Clinton says the session in Geneva yielded three agreements that buy time for the U.S. to assess Iran's seriousness about negotiations. In the meantime, she says the U.S. will continue to move toward additional sanctions if Iran won't back off from its nuclear program.

Gates says that he has always been convinced that Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons. But he says there is a possibility that Iran can be persuaded that the weapons would be counterproductive in the long run.

Clinton and Gates spoke to CNN on Monday for a program to be aired Tuesday.

WILDFIRES Crews make gains in Calif., Ariz.

WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. (AP) Calm and cool weather has been helping firefighters battle a blaze near a southern California mountain town.

The fire erupted over the weekend, and winds as strong as 50 mph quickly fanned it across a 12-square-mile area in the San Gabriel Mountains.

But a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman says the fire is "mostly smoldering." Winds are down to 6 mph and temperatures are cool.

Still, the blaze is only about 20 percent contained. Evacuation orders remain in effect for thousands of residents.

In Arizona, authorities have lifted an evacuation order for dozens of home that had been threatened by a fire near the scenic city of Williams.

The blaze is about 10 to 15 percent contained. Crews are still trying to shore up containment lines.

ELEVATOR SHAFT-WHEELCHAIR NEW: Man dies when wheelchair falls down elevator shaft

DETROIT (AP) Detroit police say a 58-year-old man died when his motorized wheelchair fell eight floors down an elevator shaft in a downtown building.

Police spokesman John Roach says it appears the wheelchair had been moving erratically and bumping into the elevator door on the eighth floor of the residential building Monday afternoon.

Roach says witness statements are conflicting, but at some point the door opened. The wheelchair then lurched forward or backward into the shaft.

Police are investigating the incident as an apparent accident.

TROPICAL WEATHER Tropical Storm Grace dying far out in Atlantic

MIAMI (AP) Forecasters say that as expected, Tropical Storm Grace is dying in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami say the remnants of the storm were being absorbed Monday night by a front.

They say Grace's top sustained winds have dropped to 50 mph (85 kph).

The center of the storm was about 210 miles (335 km) southwest of Cork, Ireland, around 11 p.m. EDT.

It's moving toward the north-northeast near 26 mph (43 kph).

The remnants will likely continue to produce a small area of gale force winds through early Tuesday.

TED WILLIAMS-BOOK NY judge rejects bid to block Ted Williams book

NEW YORK (AP) A New York judge has rejected a bid by a cryonics foundation to block the release of a book that alleges Hall of Famer Ted Williams' severed head was mistreated at its Arizona facility.

The New York Daily News reports that State Supreme Court Judge James Yates issued an order Monday saying that Larry Johnson can discuss and promote his book. Johnson is the author of "Frozen" and a former executive at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation.

Johnson claims a technician took baseball-like swings at Williams' frozen head with a monkey wrench. "Frozen" is scheduled to be released Tuesday by Vanguard Press.

The last player to hit over .400 in a season, Williams died in 2002 at age 83 and had his remains sent to Alcor for cryogenic storage.

MONDAY NIGHT Football Favre takes it to his former team, 30-23 Vikings

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Brett Favre proved to the Green Bay Packers he has plenty of fire left inside, and in his right arm.

Favre's first game against his former team was all fun for the Minnesota Vikings and all frustration for the Packers, as the graying quarterback connected for three touchdown passes and 271 yards in a 30-23 victory on Monday night.

Favre went 24 for 31, without a turnover. He did an awkward body bump with kicker Ryan Longwell, also a former Packer, and stayed poised in the pocket all night.

The Vikings (4-0) sacked Favre's replacement, Aaron Rodgers, eight times. Jared Allen was credited with 4 1/2 of them, a career high, including a safety in the fourth quarter that stretched the lead to 16. Rodgers had his first two turnovers of the season, and Favre turned both of them into vintage touchdown passes in the first half.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 10-06-09 0057CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list