State

• Gay advocates upset at shelving of Chicago school

• 3 airports opening new runways amid economic woes

National

• Upstate N.Y. dad drowns saving 2 sons after crash

• Jobless claims jump unexpectedly to 16-year high

• Drug suspect's wife charged in FBI agent's death

• States disagree greatly on Amber Alert criteria

• Arraignment set for Cheney, Gonzales in Texas

• Calif. Supreme Court to take up gay marriage ban

International

• British FM: UK won't pay ransom to Somali pirates

  • Pentagon defends military effort against pirates

  • Piracy watchdog hails Indian attack on pirate ship

• Iraq parliament engulfed in protests over US pact

• US ambassador summoned in Pakistan

• Rebels: No clashes in eastern Congo after pullback

• IMF, Nordics pledge $4.6 billion loans to Iceland

• Settlers spray inflammatory graffiti on mosque

Politics

• Detroit automakers' rescue stalls in Senate

• President-elect promised change, picking insiders

  • Sen. Clinton weighing secretary of state post

  • Dems: Napolitano emerges for Homeland Security job

• Huckabee won't rule out 2012 run for president

ODD & Extraordinary

• Boars thrive in Germany; Hunters in hog heaven

• Ind. inmates sneak through ceiling to have parties

• N.J. inmates vs. Princeton students: prison chess

• Volunteers make 143 tons of spicy kimchi in Seoul

• Thieves pry bronze Virgin Mary statue from church

• Rapper gets 20 years after writing shooting song

• Irate man wields bat to liberate his lost cat

Science, Technology & The Environment

• Bush set to relax endangered species rules

• Astronauts vow remaining tool bag won't drift away

• Herod may have been buried among lavish artwork

• Mammoth task: Scientists map DNA of ancient beast

• Invasive mussel confirmed in Utah's Electric Lake

Entertainment, Entertainers and the Arts

• Hugh Jackman crowned People's 'Sexiest Man Alive'

• Ben Affleck visits refugee camps in eastern Congo

• Matthiessen wins National Book Award fiction prize

• Hark! Colbert sings in new Christmas special

• John Malkovich to film documentary about migrants

• Lawyer: Michael Jackson to testify in London

Today

• This day in history

• The nation's weather