Aaron's Daily WWW Newspaper

NEW YORK - Wall Street headed for a moderately higher open Tuesday, regaining its momentum ahead of a fresh round of readings on the service sector, factory orders and pending home sales.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama's selection of an old White House hand to head the CIA shows a preference for a strong manager over an intelligence expert.

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine and Russia will hold new talks to end their bitter natural gas dispute that has cut off Russian gas to six other countries, the head of Ukraine's gas company said Tuesday, as officials in eastern Europe warned of a looming emergency.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The good girl gone bad has promised to be good for one night.

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Left out of the national title game, Colt McCoy and Texas made the most of their trip to the Fiesta Bowl. They just hope they did enough to impress poll voters. McCoy hit Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play, lifting the third-ranked Longhorns to a 24-21 victory over No. 10 Ohio State on Monday night. The dramatic strike capped an 11-play, 78-yard drive that took only 1:42.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip killed more than 30 Palestinian civilians on Tuesday, medical officials said, and international efforts to secure a ceasefire focused on an Israeli demand to prevent Hamas from rearming.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new U.S. Congress convenes on Tuesday under pressure to deal with a worsening economy by passing a stimulus package that Barack Obama could sign into law soon after being sworn in as president.

LONDON (Reuters) - Dire economic data underlined the severity of recession in Europe on Tuesday, while Toyota Motor Corp said it would halt all production in Japan in response to plunging demand.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's worsening gas dispute with Ukraine cut supplies on Tuesday to Turkey and a swathe of European countries, threatening disruption as far west as Italy and Germany.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More Americans are burdened by chronic illnesses such as diabetes and high blood pressure, often having more than three at a time, and this has helped fuel a big rise in out-of-pocket medical expenses, a study released on Tuesday showed.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China faces surging protests and riots in 2009 as rising unemployment stokes discontent, a state-run magazine said in a blunt warning of the hazards to Communist Party control from a sharp economic downturn.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The legal battle over gay marriage in California turned on Monday to whether the state's top court could strike down a change in the state constitution that was approved by voters.

BEIJING/HONGKONG (Reuters) - A 19-year-old woman has died of the H5N1 bird flu virus in Beijing after coming into contact with poultry, health authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong said on Tuesday.

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli troops battled Hamas fighters in major cities of overcrowded Gaza on Tuesday as Israel spurned appeals to halt a war on the Islamists that has killed at least 580 Palestinians.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia and Ukraine traded blame Tuesday as a dispute between the two bitter ex-Soviet rivals triggered major gas cuts in Europe in a dramatic escalation the EU slammed as unacceptable.

DHAKA (AFP) - Sheikh Hasina Wajed was sworn in as Bangladesh's prime minister Tuesday, restoring democracy to the impoverished country after almost two years of rule by an army-backed regime.

GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) - Laurent Nkunda is still in charge of DR Congo's powerful rebel movement and a rival who challenged his authority will be charged with "high treason," a spokesman said Tuesday.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the Mumbai attacks had the support of "some official agencies" in Pakistan, in his strongest accusation yet against the neighbouring country.

QUITO (AFP) - A team of Ecuadoran and Italian researchers have discovered a unique species of pink land iguanas living on the Galapagos Islands, the scientist who wrote the report told AFP.

FRANKFURT (AFP) - German luxury sportscar maker Porsche has taken over Volkswagen, the biggest European car manufacturer, after purchasing more than 50 percent of VW shares, Porsche said.