Israel halts campaign for 3 hours for food aid - CITY, Gaza - Israel's military paused its Gaza offensive for three hours Wednesday to allow food and fuel to reach besieged Palestinians, and the country's leaders debated whether to accept an international cease-fire plan or expand the assault against Hamas....

Egypt floats truce plan after Gaza school deaths - Israel and Hamas studied an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday that won immediate backing from the United States and Europe, hours after Israeli shells killed 42 Palestinians at a U.N. school.

Democratic opposition to seating Burris cracks - Senate Democrats are looking for ways to defuse the standoff that has denied Roland Burris the vacated Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama of Illinois, but maybe not much longer....

Stimulus aside, Obama vows future budget restraint - To a public wary of government spending, President-elect Barack Obama is offering a salve with his massive economic stimulus package: the promise of long-term fiscal discipline....

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Apartment rents show first decline in over 5 years - Average rents for U.S. apartments fell in the fourth quarter, as a sharp economic downturn and rising unemployment left Americans unwilling to pay higher prices, according to data released on Wednesday.

Alcoa to cut 13 percent of global work force - PITTSBURGH - Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. is cutting roughly 13 percent of its global work force by the end of the year as it slashes costs in the face of a deteriorating world economy....

Obama says deficit may approach $1 trillion - President-elect Barack Obama said on Tuesday he expects to inherit a U.S. budget deficit approaching $1 trillion and his administration would have to make some tough budget choices.

Alcoa to slash jobs and sell 4 units - Alcoa Inc said on Tuesday it would slash more than 15,000 jobs, halve capital spending and sell four businesses as it reduces aluminum production in the face of the global economic downturn.

Gates projects Pentagon needs $70 billion more for wars - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates estimates the Pentagon will need about $70 billion more to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, on top of the $65.9 billion already approved by Congress.

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Transcript: Mumbai gunmen were commanded by phone - NEW DELHI - "We have three foreigners, including women," the gunman said into the phone. The response was brutally simple: "Kill them." Gunshots then rang out inside the Mumbai hotel, followed by cheering that could be heard over the phone....

DiCaprio, Eastwood are Palm Springs film winners - PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - The world economy is in dire straits, but you sure wouldn't know it from the red carpet at the 20th-annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala. The actresses were dripping with jewels, actors donned high fashion, and logos of jeweler Cartier and automaker Mercedes-Benz loomed large behind all as they posed for photographers....

Tulsa pummels No. 23 Ball State 45-13 in GMAC Bowl - MOBILE, Ala. - Tulsa and No. 23 Ball State both had the best seasons in their respective programs' history. Only the Golden Hurricane felt particularly good about it Tuesday night, when they appeared faster and stronger on both sides of the ball and rolled to a 45-13 win in the GMAC Bowl....

Increase of sick brown pelicans baffles experts - Wildlife experts are trying to figure out why sick, disoriented and bruised California brown pelicans are being found in record numbers along more than 1,000 miles of coastline....

Pakistani spy chief says no war with India - ISLAMABAD - The chief of Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency has said there will not be a war with India over November's militant attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai, Der Spiegel reported. Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha told the German magazine in an interview terrorism, not India, was Pakistan's enemy, and he said he took orders from the civilian president.

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Madoff victims may get some cash within a month: report - - Investors who lost money in Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion fraud might begin recovering some of their funds as soon as next month, Securities Investor Protection Corp, President Stephen Harbeck told Bloomberg in an interview.

Missing 2 Senators 111th Congress Starts Work - On the opening day of the 111th Congress, Roland Burris showed up as promised to claim Barack Obama's seat as junior senator from Illinois. And as promised, he was rejected. Burris and his attorneys left the Capitol to consider their options, and the Senate carried on with the day's ceremonies. A Senate from Minnesota also is vacant because of an election dispute.

CNN's Dr. Gupta May Be Next Surgeon General - President-elect Barack Obama is looking for a surgeon general. And CNN says its chief medical correspondent is under consideration for the job. Should the offer come, CNN says Dr. Sanjay Gupta has indicated he's likely to take it. The 39-year-old Gupta is a practicing neurosurgeon.

Civilian Casualties Factor Into War Decisions - The fighting in Gaza has killed more than 600 Palestinians — many of them civilians. Colonel Jim Hellis is chairman of the department of national security and strategy at the U.S. Army War College. He talks with Ari Shapiro about how the U.S. military factors in civilian casualties in assessments of war strategy. Hellis says it's a balance between legal, ethical and political concerns.

Israel Debates Moving Deeper Into Gaza City - Israel is under growing pressure to end its military operations in Gaza, following the terrible bloodshed that occurred in the territory over the past 24 hours. However, Israeli leaders are discussing whether to expand military operations in Gaza. That would be a significant escalation of the assault and would inevitably bring even greater casualties among the civilian population.

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