Obama girls' first day at new school

Malia and Sasha Obama begin classes at Sidwell Friends under watchful eyes of, well, everyone.

NYT: Panetta pick for CIA reveals divisions

Leon E. Panetta has been selected by President-elect Barack Obama to head the C.I.A. The choice immediately revealed divisions in the Democratic Party.

Ukraine: Russia slashed gas to Europe
Ukraine's gas company Naftogaz said Tuesday that Russia cut natural gas supplies to Europe by about two-thirds, raising the stakes in a dispute between the two neighbors that bodes ill for European consumers.

Nursing industry desperate to find new hires

Please, please accept a high-paying job with us. In fact, just swing by for an interview and we'll give you a chance to win cash and prizes.

Report: China faces wave of unrest

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 an economic downturn.

Holes in health care means teens face future ills
Many adolescents are falling through cracks in the health care system — what a major new report calls missed opportunities to shape the next generation's health.

Certificate says seizure killed Jett Travolta

An official with a Bahamian funeral home says Jett Travolta's death certificate says he was killed by a "seizure."

Cuba allows access to Hemingway papers

Cuba on Monday began accepting requests for electronic access to more than 3,000 documents from Ernest Hemingway's home on the island, including the unpublished epilogue of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and coded messages the author sent when using his yacht to hunt for German submarines during World War II.

War tactics used against Rio gangs
Police are using counterinsurgency tactics in battle against gangs in Brazil's favelas, or slums.

'Full-blown' humanitarian crisis in Gaza

Red Cross warns 500,000 civilians in danger; Israel rejects calls for truce.