Burris denied seat in US Senate to succeed Obama (AP)
Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:28:10 GMT
AP - Roland Burris failed in his bid to take President-elect Barack Obama's Illinois Senate seat on Tuesday in a scripted piece of political theater staged just before the opening of the 111th Congress.

Economic crisis, Obama response face new Congress (AP)
Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:22:31 GMT
AP - The new Congress opened for business at the stroke of noon on Tuesday, eager to join President-elect Barack Obama in tackling the worst economic crisis in generations. Democrats celebrated last fall's election gains in the House and Senate.

Israel shells near UN school, killing at least 30 (AP)
Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:51:56 GMT
AP - Israeli mortar shells struck outside a U.N. school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge on Tuesday, killing at least 30 people — many of them children whose parents wailed in grief at a hospital filled with dead and wounded.

Obama says trillion-dollar deficits may last years (AP)
Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:09:02 GMT
AP - President-elect Barack Obama says the nation probably faces huge deficits for years to come, but heavy spending is needed now to spur the economy.

Social Security begins taking online applications (AP)
Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:13:26 GMT
AP - The Social Security Administration, bracing for the coming eligibility of 80 million baby boomers, is introducing an online application that will allow people to apply for retirement benefits in as little as 15 minutes.

Stocks up moderately after Federal Reserve minutes (AP)
Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:48:05 GMT
AP - Wall Street advanced moderately Tuesday, as fresh details from the Federal Reserve on its efforts to combat the recession helped offset disappointing economic reports.

Apple cuts copy protection and prices on iTunes (AP)
Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:25:02 GMT
AP - Apple Inc. closed its final appearance at the Macworld trade show Tuesday by cutting the price of some songs in its market-leading iTunes online store to as little as 69 cents and disclosing that soon every track will be available without copy protection.

Travolta family returns to US with son's remains (AP)
Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:54:11 GMT
AP - Actor John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, have returned to Florida with the remains of their 16-year-old son, Jett, who died at the family vacation home in Grand Bahama.

Islamic militants ridicule death of Bush cat (AP)
Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:58:40 GMT
AP - Islamic militants posted sarcastic comments on an extremist Web site Tuesday ridiculing a recent announcement by First Lady Laura Bush that the family's cat had died.

Phillies' J.C. Romero is suspended for 50 games (AP)
Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:27:07 GMT
AP - Phillies reliever J.C. Romero and Yankees minor league pitcher Sergio Mitre were suspended for the first 50 games of next season after testing positive for a banned substance. The suspensions were announced Tuesday by Major League Baseball.