Business Top Stories from Associated Press (AP)

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.

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and stories that will be talked about on Tuesday: 1. WHAT PETRAEUS THOUGHT OF THREATENING EMAILS Friends say the then-CIA director was shocked when he learned his mistress was warning another woman to stay away from him. 2. 'FISCAL CLIFF' CONFRONTS RETURNING CONGRESS

The Big East will compete with four conferences that have not had BCS automatic-qualifying status for a guaranteed spot in the lucrative marquee bowl games when college football's new postseason system starts in 2014 That group of five conferences just won't have a bowl of its own.

NEW YORK (AP) , New York Times Co. CEO Mark Thompson started his job Monday amid a widening scandal at his former employer, the BBC. When the Times hired him in August, Thompson was hailed as someone who could help the company at a time when print publications are suffering from the loss of readers and advertisers.

BRUSSELS (AP) , Greece's international creditors failed to agree Monday on how to get the country's bailout program back on track and put off again the release of the next batch loans that Athens is using to pay its day-to-day bills.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) , A strong earthquake collapsed a bridge and damaged ancient Buddhist pagodas in northern Myanmar, and piecemeal reports from the underdeveloped mining region said mines collapsed and as many as 12 people were feared dead.

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.

LOS ANGELES (AP) , Television producer and executive Henry Colman , whose credits include "The Love Boat," ''Hawaii Five-O" and "Green Acres" , has died at age 89. An announcement Sunday by the Archive of American Television says Colman died Wednesday.

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.

JERUSALEM (AP) , Israel was drawn into the fighting in neighboring Syria for the first time Sunday, firing warning shots across the border after an errant mortar shell landed near an Israeli military installation in the Golan Heights.

WASHINGTON (AP) , Members of Congress said Sunday they want to know more details about the FBI investigation that revealed an extramarital affair between ex-CIA Director David Petraeus and his biographer, questioning when the retired general popped up in the FBI inquiry, whether national security was compromised and why they weren't told sooner.

LOS ANGELES (AP) , From sea to shining sea, the nation paid tribute to its members of the armed services Sunday, both with somber traditions such as a Virginia wreath-laying ceremony attended by President Barack Obama to honor those who didn't make it back from active duty, and more lighthearted perks including red-carpet treatment at Las Vegas casinos for those who did.

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) , Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it has shut down a pipeline in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta after finding leaks it blamed on oil thieves. In a statement Sunday, Shell said its Nigerian subsidiary shut down the Imo River trunk line which had six "theft points." It said the shutdown of the line would cut production by about 25,000 barrels of oil a day.

LONDON (AP) , The bungling of reports that powerful Britons sexually abused children has thrown one of the largest and most respected broadcasters in the world into a deep crisis. It is hard to overstate the importance of the BBC in British society; its influence stretches throughout the former British empire and beyond.

NEW YORK (AP) , Wall Street is peering over the "fiscal cliff" and feeling vertigo. The stock market finished one of the worst weeks of the year Friday, pushing Washington to work out a deal to avoid the tax increases and government spending cuts set to take effect Jan. 1.