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....

Israel Agrees to Brief Halt in Gaza Offensive - The Israeli military said it will briefly halt its operations in Gaza during the day to allow in humanitarian aid and fuel.

Russian gas flow through Ukraine to Europe halted - MOSCOW/KIEV - Russian gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine shut down completely on Wednesday, leaving growing numbers of European Union member states without Russian fuel in freezing mid-winter temperatures.

Russia stops all gas supply to Europe via Ukraine - KIEV, Ukraine - Russia has shut off all its gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine - the latest move in a pricing dispute that has reduced or halted fuel deliveries to a dozen countries during a winter cold snap....

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Obama Eyeing CNN's Gupta For Surgeon General? - Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent and a practicing neurosurgeon, is reportedly in talks to become the Obama administration's surgeon general. Gupta worked on health policy as a White House fellow in the 1990s.

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.

New Congress Starts With Senate Seat Drama - The pomp and circumstance of the opening of the 111th Congress was overshadowed Tuesday by the brouhaha over Illinois Senate appointee Roland Burris, along with Minnesota's contested Senate seat and the simmering controversy over Barack Obama's reported pick for CIA director.

Obama Vows No Earmarks In Stimulus Package - President-elect Barack Obama has met with his team of economic advisers in Washington and said the government must get its own fiscal house in order. He said new spending in the stimulus package will be carefully monitored, and won't include earmarks.

Burris Gets The Senate Boot, Vows To Take Seat - Roland Burris came to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to take his seat as the junior senator from Illinois, but the Democratic leadership in the Senate kept him out. Despite getting shunned, Burris says the law is on his side.

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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....

Lawyer says Madoff cooperating with probes - Bernard Madoff is cooperating with government investigations into his alleged $50 billion fraud, one of his lawyers said on Tuesday, as prosecutors sought to revoke his bail and jail him.

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.

Democrat Roland Burris blocked from Senate - Roland Burris proclaimed himself the new junior senator from Illinois -- but it appeared only one fellow Democrat in the U.S. Senate chamber publicly agreed with him.

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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....

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.

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.

UK retailer's sales plunge in crisis - Britain's biggest clothing retailer reported its worst sales in a decade on Wednesday and Taiwan said its exports plunged the most on record, grim news belying recent optimism in world markets of a revival in the global economy.

CNN: Gupta approached about surgeon general post - President-elect Barack Obama's reported choice for surgeon general, CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, could bring a dose of star power to a job that hasn't had that much clout in decades....

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