Barack Obama was said to be set to issue an executive order on his first full day in office directing the closing, which experts said would require an extensive effort.
Republican and Democratic Senate leaders signaled that they would support the release of the second half of the Treasury?s $700 billion financial system bailout fund.
AP - A week shy of taking office, President-elect Barack Obama already is putting his persuasion skills to a high-stakes test with Congress as he seeks access to the second half of the $700 billion financial bailout fund.
AP - Israeli ground troops battled Palestinian militants in the streets of a densely populated Gaza City neighborhood early Tuesday, destroying dozens of homes and sending terrified residents running for cover as gunfire and explosions echoed in the distance.
AP - Russia's Gazprom state gas monopoly resumed pumping gas to Europe via Ukraine Tuesday after a six-day cutoff that left large parts of Europe cold and dark.
Seconds after Barack Obama was declared the winner of the presidential election, the countryside of Como, Mississippi, erupted in celebratory gunfire. Joining in the elation was James "Little Man" Presley, a man who has worked in the fields of Mississippi since he was 6 years old. In 1936, the man who hired him was the great grandfather of Wayne Drash, CNN.com senior producer. What follows is a story about how five generations of family are united by understanding -- and hope.
An Indiana judge Monday froze the assets of Marcus Schrenker, a suburban Indianapolis financial manager authorities say tried to fake his own death by crashing his private plane into a Florida swamp.
The rumble of artillery fire and the roar of ensuing explosions continued to roll through Gaza early Tuesday despite pronouncements by an Israeli official earlier that the military operation may be in its final days.