AP - Pushing the calendar, and maybe his luck, President-elect Barack Obama is urging rapid approval of a massive economic stimulus package meant to calm turbulent financial markets.

AP - Congressional Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama are laying the groundwork for quick enactment in January of a giant, two-year economic rescue package that will total about a half-trillion dollars.

AP - Budget hawks were aghast when the federal deficit hit a record $455 billion in fiscal 2008, more than double the previous year.

AP - The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety designated 72 vehicles as winners of their top safety pick award. The award recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting motorists in front, side and rear crashes and have anti-rollover technology called Electronic Stability Control, or ESC.

Politico - Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner’s (D) decision to appoint Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s longtime aide Ted Kaufman to the Senate has upset local Democrats who believe the move was a ham-handed attempt to engineer the election of Biden’s son, Beau, to the Senate in 2010.

AP - The sailors aboard the sleek yachts of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet know how to fend with the dangers of icebergs, mountainous seas and violent thunderstorms. But until now, pirates were not on their radar.

Politico - While Barack Obama's presidential campaign began with stern talk about the federal deficit, he has been sounding a different note about government spending lately, signaling in his public remarks a newfound willingness to take on additional debt, at least in the near future.

AP - With just a fifth of the state's precincts left to go in Minnesota's Senate recount, supporters of Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman remain in the hunt for ballots that could tip the balance to their candidate.

AP - The insurance industry named dozens of new cars and trucks, led by Ford Motor Co. and its Volvo subsidiary, to its annual list of the safest vehicles Tuesday, helped by the increased use of anti-rollover technology.

AP - A brother of the United Arab Emirates' ruler appealed to a Swiss court Monday to overturn his conviction for assaulting an American with his belt in a luxury hotel bar.

Politico - Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) was officially tapped as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 2010 election cycle, succeeding the hard-charging Sen. Chuck Schumer to spearhead the Democrats’ campaign efforts.

CQPolitics.com - New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, the architect of consecutive Democratic Senate election sweeps, will step down as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and hand the reins of the party's fundraising and candidate-recruitment arm to New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez.

Reuters - Kosovo and Serbia will cooperate with an European Union justice and police mission which Brussels hopes will be deployed in Kosovo by early next month, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday.

AP - Pushing the calendar, and maybe his luck, President-elect Barack Obama is urging rapid approval of a massive economic stimulus package meant to calm turbulent financial markets.

Politico - President-elect Barack Obama is sending mixed signals on his plans for trade policy.

AP - There's only one president at a time, as Barack Obama has said repeatedly since he was elected to be the next one. But there's also no time to waste as the nation faces the worst economic turmoil in 75 years.

AP - Ireland plans to impose tough new penalties on beggars for the first time since the Potato Famine 160 years ago.

Politico - After a rush of new commitments, Treasury is now making preparations to ask Congress for clearance to tap into the second half of the massive $700 billion financial markets rescue fund approved prior to November’s elections.

ABC News - 'GMA's' Dream Team takes a look at the President-elect's economic plan.

AP - Classified ads are the latest target of the British government's crackdown on the sex industry.

Politico - CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama highlighted his commitment to fiscal restraint Tuesday, even as his transition team readied plans for hundreds of billions in new spending.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is meeting with the nation's governors in Philadelphia on Tuesday to discuss how the economic crisis is crimping states and their budgets.

AP - A united and diverse coalition of environmental advocacy groups has sent President-elect Barack Obama its roadmap for change — and it represents a U-turn from the policies of President George W. Bush.

AP - The Ohio Supreme Court will have the final say on how thousands of outstanding provisional votes are counted for a tight congressional race.

AP - A Paris court has convicted an American man and his Danish companion for having sheltered two members of the outlawed Basque militant group ETA.

Politico - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has agreed to stay on under President-elect Barack Obama, according to officials in both parties. Obama plans to announce a national-security team early next week that includes Gates at the Pentagon and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as secretary of state, officials said. 

AP - Taxpayers who believe their economic stimulus checks went astray must update their addresses with the Internal Revenue Service by Friday.

AP - British and U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday rejected claims that London and Washington spy on each other's leaders, following an allegation that the U.S. kept a secret file on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

AP - Virtually unknown outside financial circles, Timothy Geithner suddenly is the man at every crisis point in the economy.

Politico - Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) was hospitalized Tuesday because of “discomfort,” according to a statement from his office.

AP - Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss is calling in a closer: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will join him for four rallies across the state on the eve of his hotly contested Dec. 2 runoff.

AP - The Ohio Supreme Court will have the final say on how thousands of outstanding provisional votes are counted for a tight congressional race.

AP - The chief U.N. nuclear inspector has urged caution against prematurely judging Syria's atomic program by reminding diplomats about false U.S. claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, comments released Tuesday show.

AP - Armenia won its second straight gold medal at the Chess Olympiad Tuesday by defeating China 2.5-1.5 in the 11th and final round.

AP - The U.N. humanitarian chief warned Tuesday that international aid for millions of Darfur residents can not go on indefinitely and said the Sudanese government and rebels must negotiate a solution that would allow the displaced to return home.