WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama was poised to make history on Tuesday as America's first black president, riding the optimism of millions of people into power and inheriting a recession and two wars that will test his skills.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel planned to complete a troop pullout from Gaza before Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday, Israeli political sources said, in what analysts saw as an effort to avoid any tension with the new U.S. president.

KABUL (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition forces killed 22 militants, including two Taliban commanders, during a series of operations in Afghanistan, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Russia said it would resume gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine at 0700 GMT on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after a Moscow-Kiev contract row cut flows to European countries in mid-winter.

AP - U.S. coalition troops used hand grenades and airstrikes in a series of clashes across Afghanistan, killing 22 militants and detaining 11 others, the coalition said Tuesday.

AP - Kobe Bryant and LeBron James tussled to a virtual standoff Monday night. But Bryant's supporting cast was far more effective, and that was the difference as the Los Angeles Lakers beat Cleveland 105-88 to snap a five-game losing streak to the Cavaliers.

Reuters - Barack Obama was poised to make history on Tuesday as America's first black president, riding the optimism of millions of people into power and inheriting a recession and two wars that will test his skills.

Reuters - Israel planned to complete a troop pullout from Gaza before Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday, Israeli political sources said, in what analysts saw as an effort to avoid any tension with the new U.S. president.

Reuters - U.S.-led coalition forces killed 22 militants, including two Taliban commanders, during a series of operations in Afghanistan, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

AFP - Tracing the arc of history to a day many thought would never come, Barack Obama was to be sworn in Tuesday as America's 44th and first black president -- and wade into a sea of troubles.

AFP - Tension eased in Gaza early on Tuesday as a fragile ceasefire entered its third day, with residents struggling to absorb the devastation caused by Israel's deadly 22-day assault on the territory.

AP - Stepping into history, Barack Hussein Obama grasps the reins of power as America's first black president in a high-noon inauguration amid grave economic worries and high expectations.

AP - A relaxed and upbeat Barack Obama invoked the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. and lavished praise on two prominent Republicans in calling for a new spirit of bipartisanship.

AP - Suspected Taliban militants killed six alleged U.S. spies in a lawless region of northwest Pakistan where U.S. missile attacks have targeted al-Qaida hideouts, police said Tuesday.

AP - Plans to close Guantanamo are not sitting well with the Sept. 11 victims' relatives who sat stunned while two alleged terrorists declared they were proud of their role in the plot.

AP - Russia's Gazprom gas monopoly says it has restarted gas shipments through Ukrainian pipelines to Europe after halting them nearly two weeks ago amid a pricing dispute.

AP - U2 fans, get your boots on. The first song from the band's first album in five years is ready for you to hear.

Reuters - Israel planned to complete a troop pullout from Gaza before Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday, Israeli political sources said, in what analysts saw as an effort to avoid any tension with the new U.S. president.

AFP - Russian gas supply pumped to Europe through Ukraine resumed on Tuesday after Ukraine began transiting shipments, a Gazprom official at a gas metering station on the Russia-Ukraine border told AFP.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel planned to complete a troop pullout from Gaza before Barack Obama's inauguration Tuesday, Israeli political sources said, in what analysts saw as an effort to avoid any tension with the new U.S. president.

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Russia resumed pumping natural gas into Ukraine on its way to Europe on Tuesday, two weeks after a contract row cut supplies to about 20 European countries.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - In the years since Iraqis last brandished fingers stained with purple ink to show the world they had voted in a free election, their country has plunged deeper into, and slowly climbed out of, brutal sectarian war.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A 16-year-old boy died of bird flu in central China on Tuesday, the third death this year, as experts warned that lax monitoring could mask the true extent of the disease in Chinese poultry.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. food companies recalled more products containing peanut butter as the U.S. government continued its investigation into an outbreak of salmonella food poisoning that have may have contributed to six deaths.

AP - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon headed to the Gaza Strip Tuesday to inspect the devastation wrought by Israel's three-week onslaught as the territory's militant Hamas rulers, triumphant at having survived the assault, planned victory rallies amid the ruins.

Reuters - Russia resumed pumping natural gas into Ukraine on its way to Europe on Tuesday, two weeks after a contract row cut supplies to about 20 European countries.

Reuters - In the years since Iraqis last brandished fingers stained with purple ink to show the world they had voted in a free election, their country has plunged deeper into, and slowly climbed out of, brutal sectarian war.

Reuters - A 16-year-old boy died of bird flu in central China on Tuesday, the third death this year, as experts warned that lax monitoring could mask the true extent of the disease in Chinese poultry.

Reuters - U.S. food companies recalled more products containing peanut butter as the U.S. government continued its investigation into an outbreak of salmonella food poisoning that have may have contributed to six deaths.

AFP - Israel and Hamas observed their Gaza truce for a third day on Tuesday ahead of a planned visit by UN chief Ban Ki-moon to the war-battered enclave where Israeli troops remain deployed.

MILAN/PARIS (Reuters) - Italy's Fiat took a 35 percent stake in Chrysler, launching a venture designed to secure the beleaguered U.S. carmaker's future, as France asked its auto industry to commit to output targets in exchange for aid.

GAZA (Reuters) - Confronted by stark scenes of destruction, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and Israel was poised to withdraw its troops before the U.S. presidential inauguration later in the day.

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Russian gas started reaching Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday for the first time since a contract row between Moscow and Kiev cut supplies to about 20 European countries two weeks ago.

AP - Crowds streamed into the nation's capital Tuesday, packing mass transit and suburban subway parking lots before dawn as out-of-towners and area residents alike headed for Pennsylvania Avenue and the National Mall for the swearing in of President-elect Barack Obama.

AP - Hundreds of Rwandan troops entered eastern Congo on Tuesday in an effort to oust the Hutu rebels who participated in Rwanda's genocide.

AP - Fiat and Chrysler said Tuesday they have signed a nonbinding agreement for a strategic alliance that would give the Italian auto empire a 35-percent stake in the troubled U.S. carmaker.

AP - Schoedinger Funeral and Cremation Service has taken the business of grief high-tech: It's one of a growing number of funeral service providers to embrace the Web.

AP - On a night Kobe Bryant and LeBron James faced off, Chris Paul and Danny Granger put on a better show.

Reuters - Italy's Fiat took a 35 percent stake in Chrysler, launching a venture designed to secure the beleaguered U.S. carmaker's future, as France asked its auto industry to commit to output targets in exchange for aid.

Reuters - Confronted by stark scenes of destruction, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and Israel was poised to withdraw its troops before the U.S. presidential inauguration later in the day.

Reuters - Russian gas started reaching Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday for the first time since a contract row between Moscow and Kiev cut supplies to about 20 European countries two weeks ago.

AFP - UN chief Ban Ki-moon paid a first visit to the war-battered Gaza Strip on Tuesday where Israeli troops remain deployed on the third day of a ceasefire.

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Fiat will take a 35 percent stake in U.S. car maker Chrysler LLC -- valued at zero by its part-owner -- in a deal aimed at helping the pair survive the worst crisis to hit their industry in decades.

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Russian gas reached Europe via Ukraine for the first time in two weeks on Tuesday after Moscow and Kiev ended a contract row that cut supplies to about 20 European countries.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's military issued a blunt call on Tuesday for outside powers to stop demanding it do more and prove its sincerity in the campaign against militancy as the U.S. regional military chief visited.

AP - Braving frigid temperatures, an exuberant crowd of hundreds of thousands packed the National Mall on Tuesday to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama as America's first black president. He grasps the reins of power in a high-noon ceremony amid grave economic worries and high expectations.

AP - As massive crowds swarmed the National Mall on Tuesday to witness Barack Obama's inauguration as president, the man at the center of the maelstrom began the day quietly and reverently, at a church service across the street from the White House.

AP - Authorities monitored a rush of intelligence leads Tuesday at the largest security operation in presidential inauguration history, including a possible threat from an East Africa radical Islamic terrorist group.

AP - The U.N. chief inspected the devastation wrought by Israel's onslaught in Gaza on Tuesday, leading a moment of silence at the smoldering U.N. headquarters, as the territory's militant Hamas rulers, triumphant at having survived, held victory rallies amid the ruins.

Reuters - Italy's Fiat will take a 35 percent stake in U.S. car maker Chrysler LLC -- valued at zero by its part-owner -- in a deal aimed at helping the pair survive the worst crisis to hit their industry in decades.

Reuters - Russian gas reached Europe via Ukraine for the first time in two weeks on Tuesday after Moscow and Kiev ended a contract row that cut supplies to about 20 European countries.

Reuters - Pakistan's military issued a blunt call on Tuesday for outside powers to stop demanding it do more and prove its sincerity in the campaign against militancy as the U.S. regional military chief visited.

AFP - Hundreds of thousands of people streamed into Washington Tuesday to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first black US president, in a moment of national unity after years of political tumult.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama prepared to make history on Tuesday as the first black U.S. president, riding a wave of hope in America and the world as he tackles the worst economic crisis in 70 years and two wars.

GAZA (Reuters) - Voicing shock and anger at the 'heartbreaking' devastation, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to pledge aid for Palestinians after Israeli attacks killed 1,300 and left thousands homeless.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama plans to name former Sen. George Mitchell as his Middle East envoy in one of his first actions as the new U.S. president, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama and President George W. Bush have arrived at the U.S. Capitol for Obama's inauguration as the nation's 44th president.

AP - Authorities monitored a rush of intelligence leads Tuesday at the largest security operation in presidential inauguration history, including a possible threat from an East Africa radical Islamic terrorist group.

AP - A woman escaped serious injury and refused medical treatment after a cow knocked her down and walked on her legs. Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks ranger Pete Taylor said the woman was riding her bicycle along the South Boulder Creek Trail on Monday when she encountered the cow and stopped to let the animal cross.

AP - Reliever Ryan Madson and the Philadelphia Phillies avoided arbitration by reaching a preliminary agreement Tuesday on a $12 million, three-year contract.

Reuters - Barack Obama prepared to make history on Tuesday as the first black U.S. president, riding a wave of hope in America and the world as he tackles the worst economic crisis in 70 years and two wars.

Reuters - Voicing shock and anger at the 'heartbreaking' devastation, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to pledge aid for Palestinians after Israeli attacks killed 1,300 and left thousands homeless.

Reuters - Barack Obama plans to name former Sen. George Mitchell as his Middle East envoy in one of his first actions as the new U.S. president, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

AFP - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday paid what he called a 'heartbreaking' first visit to the war-battered Gaza Strip where Israeli troops remain deployed on the third day of a ceasefire.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama became the first black U.S. president on Tuesday, making history before a sea of people and declaring the United States in the midst of a crisis that can be defeated with a united sense of purpose.

MILAN/DETROIT (Reuters) - Italy's Fiat said on Tuesday it would be given a 35 percent stake in struggling U.S. automaker Chrysler LLC in exchange for access to technology and overseas markets in a deal underscoring the huge stress on the global auto industry.

PARIS (Reuters) - The Paris prosecutor's office on Tuesday said it had launched a preliminary investigation into the French ramifications of the alleged scam orchestrated by the U.S. financier Bernard Madoff.

AP - Stepping into history, Barack Hussein Obama grasped the reins of power as America's first black president on Tuesday, saying the nation must choose 'hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord' to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

AP - President Barack Obama says it's time to begin 'the work of remaking America.' In the prepared text of his inaugural address, Obama speaks of the nation's economic crisis, saying the 'time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions' has passed.

AP - President Barack Obama is telling the world's Muslims that his administration will be looking for a 'new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.' And he's warning leaders around the globe who try to encourage conflict and 'blame their society's ills on the West' that their people will judge them on what they build, not what they destroy.

AP - More than 1 million people crammed onto the National Mall and along the Pennsylvania Avenue inauguration parade route Tuesday to witness the swearing-in of the nation's first black president.

AP - Crews searching the frigid, murky Hudson River for debris from US Airways Flight 1549 have turned up shoes, hats and flotation devices, but the location of the missing left engine remains unknown.

AP - Country singer Jo Dee Messina and her husband have announced the birth of their first child, a boy.

AP - Ryan Madson's $12 million, three-year contract was completed Tuesday by the Philadelphia Phillies, and Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Adam LaRoche agreed to a $7.05 million, one-year contract as teams and players in arbitration rushed to settle cases.

Reuters - Barack Obama became the first black U.S. president on Tuesday, making history before a sea of people and declaring the United States in the midst of a crisis that can be defeated with a united sense of purpose.

Reuters - Italy's Fiat said on Tuesday it would be given a 35 percent stake in struggling U.S. automaker Chrysler LLC in exchange for access to technology and overseas markets in a deal underscoring the huge stress on the global auto industry.

Reuters - The Paris prosecutor's office on Tuesday said it had launched a preliminary investigation into the French ramifications of the alleged scam orchestrated by the U.S. financier Bernard Madoff.

AFP - Barack Obama took the oath of office to become the first black president in US history Tuesday, witnessed by huge crowds in an unprecedented endorsement of a new leader at a time of deep crisis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama became the first black U.S. president on Tuesday and quickly turned the page on the Bush years, urging Americans to rally together to end the worst economic crisis in 70 years and repair the U.S. image abroad.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ailing Senator Edward Kennedy collapsed at an inaugural lunch for Democratic President Barack Obama on Tuesday and was evacuated by medical staff, apparently suffering from convulsions, a congressional aide said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will move quickly to name a Middle East envoy and is strongly considering former Sen. George Mitchell for the job, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

AP - Stepping into history, Barack Hussein Obama grasped the reins of power as America's first black president on Tuesday, declaring the nation must choose 'hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord' to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

AP - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., battling a brain tumor, became ill at a post-inauguration luncheon for President Barack Obama on Tuesday and was rushed by ambulance to a hospital. There was no immediate word from medical personnel on his condition, although fellow senators said he had suffered an apparent seizure and remained conscious as he was taken for further evaluation.

AP - Chief Justice John Roberts stumbled slightly over the 35-word constitutionally prescribed oath of office as he swore in Barack Obama as the 44th president on Tuesday, sending the new chief executive into a verbal detour of his own.

AP - An 8-year-old boy lived for more than a week with the body of his dead mother before anyone discovered his situation, police said.

AP - A coroner in Los Angeles has found that an 'American Idol' hopeful found dead outside Paula Abdul's home committed suicide with prescription drugs. Assistant Chief of Coroner Ed Winter says Paula Goodspeed died in November after of a prescription drug overdose. The report didn't specify which drugs.

AP - Closer Jonathan Papelbon and the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a $6.25 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration.

Reuters - Barack Obama became the first black U.S. president on Tuesday and quickly turned the page on the Bush years, urging Americans to rally together to end the worst economic crisis in 70 years and repair the U.S. image abroad.

Reuters - Ailing Senator Edward Kennedy collapsed at an inaugural lunch for Democratic President Barack Obama on Tuesday and was evacuated by medical staff, apparently suffering from convulsions, a congressional aide said.

Reuters - President Barack Obama will move quickly to name a Middle East envoy and is strongly considering former Sen. George Mitchell for the job, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

AFP - Barack Obama took the oath of office as the first black president in US history Tuesday, proclaiming Americans had chosen 'hope over fear' and vowing to remake his nation to triumph over multiple crises at home and abroad.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, who is being treated for a brain tumor, collapsed at an inaugural lunch for Democratic President Barack Obama on Tuesday and was evacuated by medical staff, a congressional aide said.

AP - Barack Hussein Obama claimed his place in history as America's first black president Tuesday, summoning a dispirited and divided nation to unite in hope against the 'gathering clouds and raging storms' of unfinished war and grave economic woe. A jubilant crowd of more than a million waited for hours in frigid temperatures to witness the moment as a young black man with a foreign-sounding name took command of a nation founded by slaveholders.

AP - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, ill with a brain tumor, was hospitalized Tuesday but quickly reported feeling well after suffering a seizure at a post-inauguration luncheon for President Barack Obama. 'After testing, we believe the incident was brought on by simple fatigue,' Dr. Edward Aulisi, chairman of neurosurgery at Washington Hospital Center said in a statement released by the senator's office.

AP - Police and federal marine agents searching the Hudson River with sonar equipment for the left engine of US Airways Flight 1549 say they've found what appears to be an object of the same size.

AP - Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard asked for $18 million in salary arbitration Tuesday, the third-highest figure submitted since the process began in 1974. Philadelphia offered him $14 million, a raise of $4 million. Houston's Roger Clemens set the record for highest request in arbitration at $22 million in 2005. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is second at $18.5 million in 2001.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama took power as the first black U.S. president on Tuesday and quickly turned the page on the Bush years, urging Americans to rally to end the worst economic crisis in generations and repair the U.S. image abroad.

AP - Leaving the White House for the last time on Tuesday, President George W. Bush blew a kiss out the window of his presidential limousine, a gesture that capped an eight-year administration marked by two wars, recession and the biggest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

AP - The clergy were Protestant, and so was the new head of state. But the inauguration Tuesday of President Barack Obama aimed for a much broader audience: an increasingly diverse America, where people want their beliefs acknowledged in the nation's most important ceremony. In his address, Obama referred to God and Scripture, saying, 'the time has come to set aside childish things,' from 1 Corinthians.

AP - WASHINGTON (AP — Chief Justice John Roberts swore in Barack Obama as president Tuesday in the first of what could be many important interactions for the two men of differing politics who rose quickly to power. The encounter was briefly awkward after Obama stepped on Roberts' opening lines from the 35-word constitutionally prescribed oath of office. The chief justice then wandered into a verbal detour of his own.

AP - Authorities using sonar in the search for the missing engine from US Airways Flight 1549 detected something about the size of the massive aircraft part deep in the frigid, murky Hudson River on Tuesday, but divers ran out of daylight before they could locate the object.

AP - Investing a dollar and getting 10 cents back in return is a bad deal even in today's market. But recovering 10 cents on the dollar might be optimistic for investors who gave their cash to Bernard Madoff.

AP - A 72-year-old man with eyebrows so long he brushed them each morning raised $1,600 for charity from people who paid to take turns trimming his out-of-control brows. Some of the wiry hairs shorn from Si Burgher's shaggy eyebrows measured more than three inches long because the former jeweler's brows had never been trimmed.

Reuters - Barack Obama took power as the first black U.S. president on Tuesday and quickly turned the page on the Bush years, urging Americans to rally to end the worst economic crisis in generations and repair the U.S. image abroad.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama took power as the first black U.S. president on Tuesday and quickly turned the page on the Bush years, urging Americans to rally to end the worst economic crisis in generations and repair the U.S. image abroad.

AP - Waving cardboard red, white and blue 'W's, thousands welcomed George W.

AP - A federal grand jury indicted an Indiana investment adviser Tuesday on charges of deliberately crashing his small airplane in the Florida Panhandle to try to fake his own death as part of a plan to escape financial ruin.

Reuters - Barack Obama took power as the first black U.S. president on Tuesday and quickly turned the page on the Bush years, urging Americans to rally to end the worst economic crisis in generations and repair the U.S. image abroad.

AFP - The world on Tuesday embraced the Barack Obama era but the leaders that the new US president will have to deal with also warned him of the difficulties ahead.

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - On the orders of new U.S. President Barack Obama, prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals asked military judges on Tuesday to halt pending cases for 120 days, a trial source said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. bank shares sank on Tuesday, with Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp hitting their lowest levels since the early 1990s as investors, seeing no quick end to losses from toxic assets, worried that many banks are running short of capital.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - George W. Bush bid farewell to Washington politics on Tuesday, leaving with little fanfare as the United States turned its attention to its new president, Barack Obama.

BOSTON (Reuters) - 'America's Top Ranked Money Manager,' read the 2003 headline in The Wall Street Digest, an investment newsletter.

Reuters - Hours after taking office on Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama ordered military prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals to ask for a 120-day halt in all pending cases.

Reuters - George W. Bush bid farewell to Washington politics on Tuesday, leaving with little fanfare as the United States turned its attention to its new president, Barack Obama.

Reuters - 'America's Top Ranked Money Manager,' read the 2003 headline in The Wall Street Digest, an investment newsletter.

AFP - Barack Obama claimed his place in history as America's first black president and told his nation to dust itself off and brave the 'icy currents' and 'storms' of its multiple crises.