State

• Obama office to release Blagojevich report

• Round-the-clock retail hours attract the unsleepy

National

• Bad weather delays Christmas travelers in West

• 2 killed, 1 hurt in Dallas-area road shootings

• Odd bumping noise heard on Denver plane's tape

• Lesbian's brutal gang rape investigated in Calif.

• 5 immigrants face life behind bars for Army plot

• Official says Calif. could be broke in 2 months

• NYC dodges prosecution in deadly ground-zero fire

• Carnegie Heroes awards 19 medals, cash for bravery

  • Recipients of the latest Carnegie Hero medals

International

• Arabs lavish jewels on Secretary of State Rice

• Iraqi lawmaker says speaker offers to resign

• US military buildup in Afghanistan taking form

• Troops head toward Guinea presidential compound

• Russia accuses foreign nationals in Georgia war

• Chinese pandas arrive in Taiwan in charm offensive

Politics

• Clinton absorbs $13.1 million loan to campaign

• Stevens asks for conviction to be dismissed

• Biden to oversee efforts aimed at middle class

ODD & Extraordinary

• Ill. health dept. throws a sick Christmas party

• Obese couple have weight-loss surgery on same day

• Lonely man jumps into polar bear's cage in Berlin

• Mom accused of smoking marijuana with teen kids

• Alaska pulls plug on Snowzilla the giant snowman

Science, Technology & Environment

• 4,300-year-old pharaonic tombs unveiled near Cairo

• Israelis unearth Byzantine gold hoard

• US, Russian space station crew conduct spacewalk

Entertainment, Entertainers, Media & Arts

• Celebrities share adoption stories for TV special

• Review: 'Button' dazzles visually, emotionally

  • Capsule reviews of 'Valkyrie' and other films

• 'Titanic' duo DiCaprio and Winslet sail again

• Concert industry posts record year despite economy

• Paolini, Pullman with books coming to iPhones

Today

• This day in history

• The nation's weather