National

• Police: Santa gunman planned to kill more than 9

• Family of missing cruise woman believes she jumped

• Flooding the latest weather threat in Midwest

• Palin's daughter gives birth to son named Tripp

• Billy Graham moves Dallas church membership to S.C.

• Toll express lanes ease traffic on urban highways

• Tahoe project wins praise but forces locals out

• Bonuses, elite rep help boost Marine numbers

• Population up 2.7 million this year

International

• Police: 7 bodies recovered in Canada avalanches

• Egypt refuses full opening of Gaza crossing

• Shoe-throwing Iraqi journalist's trial postponed

• Pakistan closes US supply route to hit militants

• Chinese dairies to compensate sickened babies

Politics

• Obama can't shake the bowling jokes

• Caroline Kennedy draws criticism after latest tour

• N.M.'s Sen. Domenici leaves office after 36 years

ODD & Extraordinary

• Boy Scout earns all 121 merit badges

• Detective asks to use bathroom, finds stolen gun

• Man carrying over $70 chooses jail over $1.57 soda

• Bad recycling: Pay stub used as bank robbery note

• Wis. Web site image sends Capitol to Minneapolis

• Man spits on court floor after traffic conviction

• Colorado town tries to solve mystery of no water

• Firefighters break down wrong door during training

• Injured burglary suspect returns to Tenn. store

Science, Technology & Environment

• Researcher says Jell-O may eliminate lake trout

• Scientists eye unusual swarm of Yellowstone quakes

• NZ airline flies jetliner partly run on veggie oil

• Can dolphins survive winter in N.J. rivers?

Entertainment, Entertainers, Media & Arts

• 'Valkyrie' non-flop augurs well for Cruise, UA

• 'Terminator' to be preserved in US film registry

• Postal Service lifts curtain on next year's stamps

• French fashion designer Ted Lapidus dies at 79

• Jazz great Freddie Hubbard dead at 70

Today

• This day in history

• The nation's weather