WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to try to build momentum for an $825 billion package he says is urgently needed to keep the U.S. economy from sinking into an even deeper recession.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - William Dudley, the head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank's markets group, has been chosen to succeed Timothy Geithner as president of the regional Fed bank, a source familiar with the decision said on Monday.

AP - A woman gave birth Monday to eight babies, only the second time in history octuplets have survived more than a few hours, doctors said.

AP - Chris Paul stole the ball and rocketed the other way, spinning a one-handed floater off the glass as he was fouled, then slapping the padding under the basket with both hands in celebration.

Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to try to build momentum for an $825 billion package he says is urgently needed to keep the U.S. economy from sinking into an even deeper recession.

Reuters - William Dudley, the head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank's markets group, has been chosen to succeed Timothy Geithner as president of the regional Fed bank, a source familiar with the decision said on Monday.

AFP - US President Barack Obama said that the United States would offer arch-foe Iran an extended hand of diplomacy if the Islamic Republic's leaders 'unclenched their fist.'

AFP - Southern African leaders on Tuesday gave President Robert Mugabe and rival Morgan Tsvangirai until mid-February to form a unity government after marathon talks to break Zimbabwe's political deadlock.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Trust in business plummeted worldwide last year, as the global economic crisis sent financial institutions pleading for government support, leaving average people to question industry's ability to bring prosperity, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Authorities on Monday arrested the chief executive of a private New York financing firm on suspicion of running a purported Ponzi scheme that attracted $400 million in investments, U.S. law enforcement officials said.

AP - They've been bailed out, but not kicked out. At banks that are receiving federal bailout money nearly nine out of every 10 of the most senior executives from 2006 are still on the job, according to an Associated Press analysis of regulatory and company documents.

AP - President Barack Obama is making good on his promise to hear from Republicans as he pushes for swift passage and bipartisan backing of his massive $825 billion plan intended to jerk the country out of recession.

AP - Palestinian militants detonated a bomb targeting an Israeli army patrol along the Gaza border, the Israeli military said, in the first serious clash since a cease-fire went into effect more than a week ago.

AP - Defending champion Novak Djokovic struggled in the heat Tuesday before retiring from his Australian Open quarterfinal against American Andy Roddick.

Reuters - Trust in business plummeted worldwide last year, as the global economic crisis sent financial institutions pleading for government support, leaving average people to question industry's ability to bring prosperity, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Reuters - A California woman shocked doctors by giving birth on Monday to octuplets, believed to be only the second set of eight babies born in the United States.

TOKYO/BERLIN (Reuters) - German business sentiment posted a surprise rise in January, a survey from Europe's biggest economy showed on Tuesday, offering a glimmer of optimism in a global crisis which prompted Japan to extend aid to small companies.

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Two years ago anyone uttering the words 'state' and 'regulation' in the same sentence would have been sneered at in high-powered banking circles gathered by the ski slopes of Davos.

DUBAI (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said the time was ripe for Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace negotiations and that America was prepared to extend a hand of peace to Iran if it 'unclenched its fist.'

GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli soldier was reported killed close to the border with the Gaza Strip Tuesday in what Palestinians said appeared to have been an attack by militants in breach of ceasefire declarations made over a week ago.

AP - Congress is eager to hear from Defense Secretary Robert Gates how the Obama administration plans to salvage the war in Afghanistan and hold a relative peace in Iraq — all the while reducing the stress on a force stretched thin by years of combat.

AP - Under orders from President Barack Obama to move quickly to overhaul the country's response to a deepening financial crisis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was expected to unveil a new set of rules Tuesday to limit the influence of special interests in decisions involving the government's $700 billion financial rescue program.

AP - A multibillion-dollar pyramid scheme allegedly spawned by disgraced investor Bernard Madoff is being probed by a Senate panel that will, for the first time, question federal regulators responsible for inspecting investment firms and enforcing action against violations.

AP - Doctors methodically delivered a mother's seven babies, five boys and two girls, just as they had repeatedly rehearsed.

Reuters - German business sentiment posted a surprise rise in January, a survey from Europe's biggest economy showed on Tuesday, offering a glimmer of optimism in a global crisis which prompted Japan to extend aid to small companies.

Reuters - Two years ago anyone uttering the words 'state' and 'regulation' in the same sentence would have been sneered at in high-powered banking circles gathered by the ski slopes of Davos.

Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama said the time was ripe for Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace negotiations and that America was prepared to extend a hand of peace to Iran if it 'unclenched its fist.'

Reuters - An Israeli soldier was reported killed close to the border with the Gaza Strip Tuesday in what Palestinians said appeared to have been an attack by militants in breach of ceasefire declarations made over a week ago.

AFP - A Palestinian was shot dead and an Israeli soldier reportedly killed in a blast on Tuesday as the deadliest flare-up since the end of the Gaza conflict cast a dark shadow over the new US peace envoy's maiden mission to the region.

AFP - US President Barack Obama has offered to engage with Iran if its leaders 'unclenched their fist' as his new UN ambassador pledged 'direct' nuclear diplomacy with the Islamist republic as long as Tehran halts uranium enrichment.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - William Dudley, the head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank's markets group, has been chosen to succeed Timothy Geithner as president of the regional Fed bank, a source familiar with the decision said on Monday.

AP - President Barack Obama is making good on his promise to hear from Republicans as he pushes for swift passage and bipartisan backing of his massive $825 billion plan intended to jerk the country out of recession.

AP - Palestinian militants detonated a bomb next to an Israeli army patrol along the border with Gaza on Tuesday, killing one soldier and wounding three others in the first serious clash since a cease-fire went into effect more than a week ago.

AP - Doctors say the octuplets born to a mother in Southern California are in stable condition and breathing on their own.

AP - Wall Street showed some relief Tuesday that big companies like American Express Co. and Texas Instruments Inc. managed to post profits in a difficult recession.

Reuters - William Dudley, the head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank's markets group, has been chosen to succeed Timothy Geithner as president of the regional Fed bank, a source familiar with the decision said on Monday.

AFP - A Palestinian and an Israeli soldier were killed near Gaza on Tuesday in the deadliest flare-up since the end of the war, casting a shadow over the new US peace envoy's maiden trip to the region.

AFP - US President Barack Obama has offered to engage with Iran if its leaders 'unclenched their fist' as his new UN ambassador pledged 'direct' diplomacy with the Islamist republic as long as Tehran halts uranium enrichment.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prices of single-family homes plunged a record 18.2 percent in November from a year earlier, indicative of a housing market that is still in the throes of a deep recession, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate passed a bill on Monday to delay the nationwide switch to digital TV signals, giving consumers nearly four more months to prepare.

PRETORIA (Reuters) - Regional leaders decided at a summit on Tuesday that Zimbabwe should form a unity government next month but the opposition said it was disappointed with the outcome, raising doubts over chances for ending the crisis.

AP - Thousands of U.S. troops originally destined for Iraq have deployed south of Afghanistan's capital in the first illustration of a new military focus on the increasingly difficult fight in the South Asian nation, NATO said Tuesday.

AP - President Barack Obama chose an Arabic-language satellite TV network for his first formal television interview as president, delivering a message Tuesday to the Muslim world that 'Americans are not your enemy.'

AP - Afghanistan is America's 'greatest military challenge' and coordination of the fight against the insurgency has been 'less than stellar,' Defense Secretary Robert Gates is telling Congress.

AP - Some of Wall Street's earnings anxiety eased Tuesday after companies including United States Steel Corp. and American Express Co. managed to post profits in a difficult recession.

Reuters - Home prices plunged a record 18.2 percent in November from a year earlier as the country's housing market remains in the throes of a deep recession, according to an index from Standard & Poor's.

Reuters - Regional leaders decided at a summit on Tuesday that Zimbabwe should form a unity government next month but the opposition said it was disappointed with the outcome, raising doubts over chances for ending the crisis.

AFP - Iran is expecting a 'concrete change' in US policy towards the Islamic republic under new President Barack Obama, the government spokesman was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Corning Inc posted weaker-than-expected quarterly results and outlook on Tuesday due to a significant decline in demand for glass for televisions and computer monitors, and said it would eliminate up to 4,900 jobs to cut costs.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home prices plunged a record 18.2 percent in November from a year earlier as the country's housing market remains in the throes of a deep recession, according to an index from Standard & Poor's.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will visit Congress on Tuesday to try to persuade reluctant Republicans to support a $825 billion package he says is essential to resuscitate a plunging economy.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's attorney general issued a subpoena to former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain on Tuesday in a probe into bonuses paid to the firm's employees just days before its takeover by Bank of America Corp.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Florida fund manager Arthur Nadel, whose family reported him missing in early January, was arrested on Tuesday on criminal charges of securities fraud, U.S. officials said.

AP - Americans' mood about the economy darkened further in January, sending a widely watched barometer of consumer sentiment to a new low, a private research group said Tuesday, as people worry about their jobs and watch their retirement funds dwindle.

AP - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, in his first full day on the job, is announcing new rules to limit special-interest influence on the government's $700 billion financial rescue program.

AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday there is too little 'time, patience or money' for the United States to set unrealistic goals for war-torn Afghanistan.

Reuters - President Barack Obama said that America was prepared to extend a hand of peace to Iran if it 'unclenched its fist' and that the time was ripe for Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace negotiations.

Reuters - New York's attorney general issued a subpoena to former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain on Tuesday in a probe into bonuses paid to the firm's employees just days before its takeover by Bank of America Corp.

Reuters - President Barack Obama will visit Congress on Tuesday to try to persuade reluctant Republicans to support a $825 billion package he says is essential to resuscitate a plunging economy.

AFP - An Israeli soldier and a Palestinian were killed on Tuesday in the deadliest flare-up of Gaza violence since the war, casting a shadow over the new US peace envoy's maiden trip to the region.

AFP - The six-party nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea are 'essential,' US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged skeptical Republicans to back his $825 billion economic stimulus package on Tuesday during a visit to the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. author John Updike, a leading writer of his generation who chronicled the drama of American suburban life with searing wit, died on Tuesday, his publisher said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home prices plunged a record 18.2 percent in November from a year earlier as the country's housing market remains in the throes of a deep recession, according to an index from Standard & Poor's.

DUBAI (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said that America was prepared to extend a hand of peace to Iran if it 'unclenched its fist' and that the time was ripe for Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace negotiations.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday he would be very skeptical about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan beyond those already requested by the top commander there.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's attorney general issued a subpoena to former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain on Tuesday in a probe into bonuses paid to the firm's employees just days before its takeover by Bank of America Corp.

AP - President Barack Obama is calling on members of Congress to 'keep politics to a minimum' in dealing with the economic stimulus plan.

AP - John Updike, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, prolific man of letters and erudite chronicler of sex, divorce and other adventures in the postwar prime of the American empire, died Tuesday at age 76.

Reuters - President Barack Obama urged skeptical Republicans to back his $825 billion economic stimulus package on Tuesday during a visit to the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill.

Reuters - U.S. author John Updike, a leading writer of his generation who chronicled the drama of American suburban life with searing wit, died on Tuesday, his publisher said.

Reuters - Home prices plunged a record 18.2 percent in November from a year earlier as the country's housing market remains in the throes of a deep recession, according to an index from Standard & Poor's.

Reuters - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday he would be very skeptical about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan beyond those already requested by the top commander there.

AFP - President Barack Obama Tuesday put his vow to govern without partisan rancor on the line in exclusive talks with increasingly truculent Republican lawmakers over his massive stimulus plan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic President Barack Obama tried on Tuesday to placate Republicans in Congress who insist his $825 billion plan for reviving the U.S. economy should include bigger tax cuts.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer confidence plumbed historic lows in January and home prices fell at a record pace in November, data showed on Tuesday, highlighting a rapidly deteriorating economy.

BOSTON (Reuters) - American author John Updike, a leading writer of his generation who chronicled the emotional drama of American small-town life with searing wit and vivid prose, died on Tuesday of lung cancer. He was 76.

AP - Illinois senators for the first time have heard FBI recordings of Gov. Rod Blagojevich that are part of a corruption investigation that led to his impeachment. The prosecutor at the Democrat's impeachment trial said Tuesday the taped conversations reveal the governor talking with a lobbyist about how to get campaign contributions in exchange for signing legislation wanted by the horse-racing industry.

AP - President Barack Obama met face-to-face Tuesday with congressional Republicans who have been chafing over parts of a $825 billion plan to pull the country out of recession, and he urged lawmakers to 'keep politics to a minimum' and quickly approve the measure.

AP - Pressured by the Obama administration, Citigroup Inc. reversed course and said it will not take delivery of a corporate jet it previously planned to purchase.

AP - Former President Bill Clinton earned nearly $6 million in speaking fees last year, almost all of it from foreign companies, according to financial documents filed by his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

AP - Former evangelical pastor Ted Haggard's wife says she knew about his struggles with same-sex attraction for years and felt he was 'winning the battle' before a scandal involving a male prostitute triggered his downfall in late 2006.

AP - A slain toddler tried to stop her mother and stepfather from beating her to death by reaching out to her mother and saying, 'I love you,' a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday. The pleas from 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers didn't stop her mother, Kimberly Trenor, from continuing to brutalize her, assistant district attorney Kayla Allen said in her opening statement at Trenor's murder trial.

AP - An 1,800-year-old figurine believed to have originated from the eastern stretches of the Roman Empire has been discovered by archaeologists outside the walls of the old city, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said. The 2-inch marble bust depicts the head of a man with a short curly beard and almond-shaped eyes who may portray a boxer, the authority said.

AP - Authorities said the St. Lucie County firefighter who took a man's severed foot from an Interstate 95 crash scene last year has been charged with misdemeanor theft. The firefighter told the Florida Highway Patrol after the Sept. 19 crash that she took the remains to help train her cadaver dog. She eventually resigned from the St. Lucie County Fire District. She was arrested Monday.

AP - Chatty first baseman Sean Casey is retiring after a dozen major league seasons with five teams, headed for a second career that suits him as well. 'The Mayor' is hitting the airwaves. Casey announced his retirement Tuesday and his move to the fledgling MLB Network, a 24-hour channel launched this month to about 50 million homes. He'll be a studio analyst initially.

Reuters - Democratic President Barack Obama tried on Tuesday to placate Republicans in Congress who insist his $825 billion plan for reviving the U.S. economy should include bigger tax cuts.

Reuters - Consumer confidence plumbed historic lows in January and home prices fell at a record pace in November, data showed on Tuesday, highlighting a rapidly deteriorating economy.

Reuters - American author John Updike, a leading writer of his generation who chronicled the emotional drama of American small-town life with searing wit and vivid prose, died on Tuesday of lung cancer. He was 76.

AFP - An Israeli soldier and a Palestinian were killed on Tuesday in the deadliest flare-up of Gaza violence since the war, casting a shadow over the new US peace envoy's maiden trip to the region.

BOSTON (Reuters) - John Updike, a leading writer of his generation who chronicled the drama of small-town American life with flowing and vivid prose, wit and a frank eye for sex, died on Tuesday of lung cancer. He was 76.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Governments strung together lifelines to rescue their battered economies on Tuesday as the worldwide financial crisis that has cost trillions of dollars and claimed millions of jobs ground on.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials found salmonella contamination at a peanut plant in the state of Georgia linked to an outbreak of food poisoning that has sickened more than 500 people.

CENTRAL ISLIP, New York (Reuters) - The head of a private New York financing firm who was arrested on Monday night has been charged with operating 'a classic Ponzi scheme' into which $370 million was invested, U.S. officials said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - One day after a California woman gave birth to octuplets, doctors said on Tuesday that all eight babies were doing well and breathing on their own.

AP - On the eve of a key vote, President Barack Obama privately promised Republican critics he stands ready to accept changes in $825 billion economic stimulus legislation, and urged lawmakers to 'put politics aside' in the interest of creating badly needed jobs.

AP - John Updike, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, prolific man of letters and erudite chronicler of sex, divorce and other adventures in the postwar prime of the American empire, died Tuesday at age 76. Updike, best known for his four 'Rabbit' novels, died of lung cancer at a hospice near his home in Beverly Farms, Mass., according to his longtime publisher, Alfred A. Knopf.

AP - Lee County authorities say a 24-year-old Lehigh Acres woman taught children how shoplift then abandoned them when the group was stopped. The woman was jailed on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, child cruelty and larceny petit theft.

Reuters - John Updike, a leading writer of his generation who chronicled the drama of small-town American life with flowing and vivid prose, wit and a frank eye for sex, died on Tuesday of lung cancer. He was 76.

Reuters - Governments strung together lifelines to rescue their battered economies on Tuesday as the worldwide financial crisis that has cost trillions of dollars and claimed millions of jobs ground on.

Reuters - U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials found salmonella contamination at a peanut plant in the state of Georgia linked to an outbreak of food poisoning that has sickened more than 500 people.

Reuters - The head of a private New York financing firm who was arrested on Monday night has been charged with operating 'a classic Ponzi scheme' into which $370 million was invested, U.S. officials said.

AFP - US President Barack Obama told defiant Republicans Tuesday to forgo politics and urgently back an 825-billion-dollar stimulus plan designed to rescue the US economy and keep millions in work.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Tuesday took a step toward easing mortgage foreclosures threatening millions of Americans, announcing that it would write down troubled mortgages to keep people in their homes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday described Afghanistan as America's greatest military challenge and warned the war could be lost if the West failed to address the problem of civilian casualties.

AP - Just think: eight cribs, eight highchairs, eight strollers (or maybe four double-strollers), and far too many dirty diapers to count. A woman in Southern California gave birth Monday to the second set of octuplets ever delivered alive in the United States.

AP - He didn't even pay for the warranty. Police in Long Branch said a man allegedly stole a $20,000 diagnostic computer from a garage where he used to work, then returned the broken unit several months later — only to steal its replacement.

AP - With or without Manny Ramirez, manager Jerry Manuel thinks his New York Mets are good enough to win next season.

Reuters - The Federal Reserve on Tuesday took a step toward easing mortgage foreclosures threatening millions of Americans, announcing that it would write down troubled mortgages to keep people in their homes.

Reuters - New York's attorney general has subpoenaed former Merrill Lynch & Co Chief Executive John Thain to testify about bonuses paid to Merrill executives a few days before the brokerage's takeover by Bank of America Corp.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key U.S. Senate panel expanded the economic stimulus package to about $887 billion on Tuesday as President Barack Obama met with Republican lawmakers in a bid to win their support despite deep skepticism.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A peanut plant in Georgia identified as the source of an outbreak of salmonella shipped out products that managers knew might have been tainted, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said on Tuesday.

AP - Gov. Rod Blagojevich was hundreds of miles away, but his voice captivated the Illinois Senate Tuesday as impeachment prosecutors played FBI wiretaps of conversations in which he seems to demand campaign contributions in exchange for signing legislation.

AP - Jurors wept Tuesday watching a woman describe how teaching her 2-year-old daughter proper manners turned into a daylong torture session in which the toddler was beaten with belts, dunked in cold water and flung across a room so violently that she died.

AP - Elena Dementieva got off to a fast start as temperatures soared Wednesday, advancing to the Australian Open semifinals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Carla Suarez Navarro. The Olympic gold medalist wasted no time as temperatures hit 104 degrees, winning 16 of the first 18 points against the 20-year-old Spaniard.

Reuters - A key U.S. Senate panel expanded the economic stimulus package to about $887 billion on Tuesday as President Barack Obama met with Republican lawmakers in a bid to win their support despite deep skepticism.

Reuters - A peanut plant in Georgia identified as the source of an outbreak of salmonella shipped out products that managers knew might have been tainted, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said on Tuesday.

Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday described Afghanistan as America's greatest military challenge and warned the war could be lost if the West failed to address the problem of civilian casualties.

AFP - US lawmakers were to hand President Barack Obama the first major win of his week-old presidency on Wednesday, overriding chiefly Republican objections to pass an 825-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan.