AP - Barack Obama's appointed successor declared Tuesday he's qualified to take a seat in the Senate and said he'll go to Capitol Hill to do just that.

AP - The Democratic-dominated Congress convenes Tuesday to confront perhaps the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and to grapple with a hugely ambitious agenda set by President-elect Barack Obama.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed stimulus package would provide businesses with billions of dollars in refunds on taxes they paid several years ago.

AP - A Minnesota board on Monday certified results showing Democrat Al Franken winning the state's U.S. Senate recount over Republican Norm Coleman, whose lawyer promised a legal challenge that probably will keep the race in limbo for months.

AP - Israeli forces edged closer to Gaza's major population centers on Tuesday and attacked new sites, including a U.N. school, taking more civilian lives after ignoring mounting international calls for an immediate cease-fire. A Palestinian rocket attack wounded an Israeli infant.

AP - Wall Street headed for a moderately higher open Tuesday, regaining its upward momentum ahead of a fresh round of readings on the service sector, factory orders and pending home sales.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's selection of an old White House hand to head the CIA shows a preference for a strong manager over an intelligence expert.

AP - The head of Ukraine's gas company Naftogaz says talks on resolving the gas dispute with Russia will resume Thursday.

AP - The good girl gone bad has promised to be good for one night.

AP - Left out of the national title game, Colt McCoy and Texas made the most of their trip to the Fiesta Bowl. They just hope they did enough to impress poll voters. McCoy hit Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play, lifting the third-ranked Longhorns to a 24-21 victory over No. 10 Ohio State on Monday night. The dramatic strike capped an 11-play, 78-yard drive that took only 1:42.

Reuters - Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip killed more than 30 Palestinian civilians on Tuesday, medical officials said, and international efforts to secure a ceasefire focused on an Israeli demand to prevent Hamas from rearming.

Reuters - The new U.S. Congress convenes on Tuesday under pressure to deal with a worsening economy by passing a stimulus package that Barack Obama could sign into law soon after being sworn in as president.

Reuters - Dire economic data underlined the severity of recession in Europe on Tuesday, while Toyota Motor Corp said it would halt output in Japan in response to falling demand.

Reuters - Russian gas supplies via Ukraine to the Balkans, Turkey and south-eastern Europe were halted on Tuesday and flows to EU-member state Austria dropped by 90 percent in a deepening price row between Moscow and Kiev.

Reuters - More Americans are burdened by chronic illnesses such as diabetes and high blood pressure, often having more than three at a time, and this has helped fuel a big rise in out-of-pocket medical expenses, a study released on Tuesday showed.

Reuters - China faces surging protests and riots in 2009 as rising unemployment stokes discontent, a state-run magazine said in a blunt warning of the hazards to Communist Party control from a sharp economic downturn.

Reuters - The legal battle over gay marriage in California turned on Monday to whether the state's top court could strike down a change in the state constitution that was approved by voters.

Reuters - A 19-year-old woman has died of the H5N1 bird flu virus in Beijing after coming into contact with poultry, health authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong said on Tuesday.

AFP - Israeli troops battled Hamas fighters in major cities of overcrowded Gaza on Tuesday as Israel spurned appeals to halt a war on the Islamists that has killed at least 580 Palestinians.

AFP - Russia and Ukraine traded blame Tuesday as a dispute between the two bitter ex-Soviet rivals triggered major gas cuts in Europe in a dramatic escalation the EU slammed as unacceptable.