WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. auto executives face another day of grilling in Washington Friday, this time in front of the House Financial Services Committee.

Chief executive officers from Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F), General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) and Chrysler LLC appeared at a Senate hearing Thursday in a six hour session in which they pitched further industry cutbacks and a focus on fuel-efficiency while asking for $34 billion in federal aid.

Executives appeared contrite, arriving in Washington in automobiles, rather than corporate jets, a travel arrangement that was roundly criticized when they asked for $25 billion two weeks ago. "We're here today, because we made mistakes," GM's CEO Robert Wagoner said.

In general, congressional Democrats favor a bailout and Republicans stand opposed. A recent CNN poll found six of 10 U.S. adults do not favor a handout to the industry hit hard by $4-a-gallon gas in the summer, a slowing economy and a credit crunch.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has urged the Bush administration to consider using funds from the Troubled Assets Relieve Program to help the industry.

Professor: Mortgage help unfair but needed

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Some homeowners who make their mortgage payments on time say they are irritated that the U.S. government is helping others who don't.

Helping some homeowners but others may not be fair but is necessary to keep the U.S. economy from sinking further, CNNMoney.com reported Friday. As the number of delinquencies soars, home values decline, adversely affecting the economy.

"There's always the issue (of) 'I'm paying my mortgage even though I'm upside down and my neighbor is not,'" said Mark Goldman, a real estate professor at San Diego State University.

Letting delinquent mortgage borrowers slip into foreclosure harms the entire U.S. financial system, Goldman said.

"The appropriate public rationale (for the bailouts) is to support housing prices," he said. "The reason they're doing this is to stop plummeting prices and everyone benefits from that."

But just because it's appropriate doesn't mean taxpayers like it, CNN Money found.

"All these idiots who bought homes they couldn't really afford are going to be rewarded with loan modifications, but what about those of us who didn't make stupid decisions?" asked Jay Black, a CNNMoney.com reader who rents in New York.

Others wonder why help is available only to borrowers who are at least two or three payments behind.

"Why does a homeowner have to be behind in their mortgage to qualify?" asked Tamila Fiola of Fall River, Mass. "Why can't help be brought to those that are struggling to keep the note current? My sister in law pays over $5,000 a month for her mortgage; she struggles to make it but she does."

Police: Bangladeshi aided Mumbai attackers

NEW DELHI, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Terrorists who attacked Mumbai and killed 179 people last week had help from a Bangladeshi national, Indian security forces said.

The suspected accomplice bought cell phone SIM cards -- memory chips that can be switched in cell phones -- for the attackers at several Indian locations, sources told CNN-IBN. Intelligence experts say the subscriber identity modules are used by terrorists to confuse pursuers.

Indian authorities said they believe the attackers were Pakistanis, specifically blaming Lashkar-e-Toiba, an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan. Pakistani authorities denied the attackers were from their country, blaming what they call "non-state" actors.

One analyst told CNN-IBN he thinks the operation was planned and carried out by militants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India.

"They needed people on the ground who could guide them and provided the inside dope," said Shuja Nawaz, author of "Crossed Swords," an analysis of the role of Pakistan's military in the country's politics. "Otherwise, the Lashkar doesn't have the capacity to have cased the joints, to have made all these plans and get these people into the target area so effectively."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who met with Indian and Pakistani officials this week, stressed the need for Pakistan to hunt down Islamic extremists within its borders.

Meanwhile, Indian police handled a "security scare" of a possible airborne attack at New Delhi's major airport early Friday amid heightened security at the nation's airports, CNN-IBN reported.

Officials also are reviewing options on how to secure the country's coastline, which the Mumbai attackers used to entered the country.

Thailand's main airport resumes service

BANGKOK, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Thailand's main airport resumed operations Friday with a festive atmosphere after having been closed for several days by anti-government protesters.

Dancers and musicians greeted passengers at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, which has been under siege since Wednesday, Thai News Service reported.

Airlines reported few delays in departures. The first three flights were from Thai Airways International, Thai Air Asia and Bangkok Airways, while other international airlines were expected to resume their schedules throughout the day, the agency said.

Customs Department Director General Uthit Thammawathin said Thailand lost millions of dollars in revenue and taxes because cargo shipments were stranded when protesters forced the closure of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports during the week.

Danish sailors hand pirates to Yemenis

SANAA, Yemen, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Seven heavily armed suspected pirates were turned over to Yemeni authorities Friday after being rescued by a Danish warship.

The men were rescued Wednesday after they were found adrift in a skiff holding rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s, Danish navy spokesman Jesper Lynge told CNN. The men were found about 75 nautical miles off the Yemeni coast.

"These guys had been without propulsion on their small boat for several days without food or drinking water," Lynge said.

The men were turned over to authorities after they received medical treatment aboard the Absalon, the spokesman said. The Danish vessel sank the skiff.

Danish military officials said they are considering whether elite military units should travel aboard freighters sailing off the piracy-prone coast of Somalia, Politiken.dk reported.

"We have a plan ... like a pilot system in which freighters either take on security guards or soldiers when they enter the area and land them on another vessel when they leave the area," says Per Bigum Christensen, operational commander of the U.N. 10-vessel fleet protecting international shipping along the Somali coast.

"About half of the vessels have private security companies on board and we can see that it works. It's a sensitive issue but it works," Bigum Christensen said.