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Former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris has said he intends to go the Capitol Tuesday and begin serving as the state's junior U.S. senator. That looks unlikely, however, because the man who appointed Burris, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is facing corruption charges.

President Bush plans to designate three remote Pacific island chains as national monuments. The move will mark the largest marine conservation effort in history.

Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama are putting together a short-term stimulus package of up to $1 trillion aiming to jolt the economy and create jobs. It includes about $300 billion in tax cuts for workers and businesses, but it probably won't be on Obama's desk when he takes office.

On his first full day of work in Washington, President-elect Barack Obama sent his two daughters off to their new school before holding closed-door meetings with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, his economic advisers and a bipartisan group of congressional leaders.

The Senate swears in new members Tuesday, but exactly who those new members are remains problematic: Democrat Al Franken seems to have won the recount in Minnesota, but could face a court challenge. Roland Burris could be seated from Illinois and New York Gov. David Paterson has yet to put forward a name.

Some Egyptian ambulances have been allowed into the embattled Gaza Strip, presumably to pick up badly wounded civilians for treatment in Egyptian hospitals. Israeli warplanes and drones remain active along the frontier, drawing fire from Hamas militants.

President-elect Barack Obama will bring former Clinton administration official and federal budget expert Leon Panetta, 71, back to Washington to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Obama plans to fill the other top intelligence post with a military man: retired Navy Adm. Dennis Blair.

The heaviest fighting in the Gaza Strip since the 1967 Six Day War is taking an enormous toll on the territory's civilians. The medical system is particularly strained. Medical personnel are struggling under dangerous conditions and with limited supplies.

Regulators investigated Bernard Madoff's investment fund at least eight times before the scheme was exposed and Wall Street firms have advised against dealing with him for years.

A recent report on the rise of young black males being killed in the U.S. continues to raise concern among youth, parents and community leaders. Some say the findings reflect a much larger problem, the failure of society on many levels. A roundtable of people directly affected by violence, including two moms whose sons were killed, share their perspective on the crisis.

Israeli forces launched a deadly ground attack against Hamas this weekend. The move is in response to Hamas firing rockets into southern Israel. Vivian Silver, of Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development in Israel, and Abu Sahmi, of the Palestinian Dialogue Center, discuss the conflict's impact and the divided argument on how peace can be achieved.

The Apple founder and CEO says he'll stay on during "simple and straightforward" treatment for hormone imbalance.

Griffin Bell, attorney general in the Carter administration, has died at age 90. He had suffered from pancreatic cancer. Bell arrived at the Justice Department in 1977 in the wake of the Watergate scandal, and his impact is still felt.

President-elect Barack Obama arrived in Washington to get ready for his upcoming inauguration. He's to meet with congressional leaders on his economic stimulus plan Monday. Top Democrats are warning that even if lawmakers move quickly, it could take weeks to get the plan ready to be signed into law.

At a South Side Chicago church Sunday night, there was an emotional introduction for Roland Burris. He's the man selected to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat in Illilnois. Democrats have vowed not to seat Burris because he was named by embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. However, Burris says he's ready for a showdown.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has withdrawn his nomination to be commerce secretary in the Obama administration. Richardson took his name out of the running amid a federal grand jury investigation into government contracts.

Because of the fighting in Gaza between the Israeli military and Hams militants, it's been difficult to get aid to civilians. A relief convoy from Egypt is headed for the Gaza Strip, but it is slow going. The convoy has been traveling across the Sinai Desert on the edge of Egypt, and it's not known if it will be allowed to cross the border into Gaza.

As Israeli forces pound Hamas fighters, civilian casualties mount. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in the region to spearhead efforts for a cease-fire. Israeli troops have surrounded Gaza City and are in the third day of a ground offensive.

Verdicts are expected soon in the ongoing scandal over tainted milk in China. So far, the contaminated milk has killed six children and sickened nearly 300,000. The government last week announced details of a compensation plan. Some victims' families are questioning the plan, saying the amounts are too low.

The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing Monday on the scandal involving disgraced investor Bernard Madoff. He's accused of running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Chairman Paul Kanjorski, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, tells Steve Inskeep the hearing will investigate why the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to detect the scandal.

Israel's incursion into Gaza has continued for more than a week. Best-selling author Michael Oren is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. He's also a reservist working as a spokesman for the Israeli military. He tells Ari Shapiro that this large-scale military operation should succeed in deterring Hamas rocket attacks while previous smaller operations failed.

Israeli forces press on with their deadly ground, sea and air assault against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops have effectively cut Gaza in half. The ground offensive is the latest phase in a military campaign that started with airstrikes. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed — including many civilians.

Even as the global financial crisis pummels the economy, Moscow says it's going ahead with plans for large investments in Gazprom, the world's largest producer of natural gas. The company lies at the center of the Kremlin's strategy to boost control over global energy supplies.

President-elect Obama and his wife, Michelle, sent their daughters off to the first day at their new school Monday morning in Washington, D.C. One of the people capturing the intimate moment was Time magazine photographer Callie Shell, who has been snapping photos of Obama since 2006.

During his campaign for the White House, President-elect Obama was unequivocal about closing the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But the issue of what to do with the prisoners still there presents numerous difficult questions for Obama's team to answer.

The Israeli ground attack on Gaza sparked protests on the streets of the Arab world and renewed diplomatic calls in Europe and elsewhere for an end to the violence.

Israeli tanks and infantry units pushed farther into the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Gaza medical officials say more than 30 civilians have been killed since Saturday night; Israeli officials say one Israeli soldier was killed and several dozen were lightly wounded.

U.S. Marines are trying a new tactic in Fallujah: cattle. They're providing dairy cows to 50 women widowed in the past few years of fighting. The hope is that the cows will provide a steady source of income for the women. Marine Maj. Meredith Brown and State Department worker Jennifer Vitela talk to host Guy Raz about the project.

The governor of New Mexico and former presidential candidate has withdrawn his nomination to be President-elect Barack Obama's commerce secretary.

One day after President-elect Barack Obama urged quick passage of his economic stimulus plan, top Democrats are signaling that the package won't be ready in time for inauguration.

Host Liane Hansen talks with NPR's Eric Westervelt, who was at the Israel border with Gaza, about the latest on the Israeli ground attack in Gaza.

What Palestinians on the West Bank say about the Israeli ground offensive and what needs to be done to reach a cease-fire. Are Palestinians blaming Hamas for the conflict?

Israeli troops overnight took control of a substantial portion of the northern Gaza Strip. Backed by tanks and warplanes, they appear to be attempting to surround the dense population center of Gaza City and to divide the territory in half.

Israeli troops backed by tanks and warplanes took control of significant areas of the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, but they encountered stiff resistance from Hamas guerrilla fighters.

During the most violent year in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, civilians often paid the highest price. Some 1,200 men, women and children considered non-combatants died in 2008. Many expect the toll to increase in 2009 as more U.S. troops arrive to fight a revived Taliban.

Shawn Goldsmith has accomplished a rare feat for a Boy Scout — he earned all 121 merit badges available. You only need 21 to get the title "Eagle" Scout. "If I run into a stranger, there's definitely something to talk about. I have 121 topics to talk about," he says when asked why he did it.

Chinese dairies linked to the tainted milk scandal that sickened thousands of children sent a mass text-message to mobile phone users. "We sincerely apologize and beg your forgiveness," it said.

A Gaza City resident says he's been sleeping in his living room for the last three days because of fears an Israeli airstrike will hit a police building he can see from his bedroom window. Muhammad Shariff talks about what life is like inside Gaza as Israeli bombs rain down.

After a week of bombing strikes from the air, Israel sent ground troops into Gaza on Saturday. The operation penetrated the territory at several points and was designed to seize areas of north Gaza being used to launch rockets against Israel, Israeli military officials said.