Prosecutors sought to have Madoff jailed, while SEC officials were grilled on Capitol Hill for having repeatedly overlooked signs of his alleged decadeslong fraud.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - With CD sales dropping fast, the music business is exploring nontraditional ways to expose consumers to recording artists. Among the new sales and marketing vehicles...

President-elect Barack Obama demanded bold action on his near 800 billion dollar stimulus plan, warning Congress would send the US economy into an even deeper hole if it fails to act...

(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING INFO) Parliamentary Secretary for Internal Affairs and Communications Tetsushi Sakamoto on Tuesday retracted his controversial remarks that questioned whether...

Harvard Law Dean Elena Kagan will become the first female solicitor general. Other key jobs go to Bush torture policy critic Dawn Johnsen and transition team members David Ogden and Tom Perrelli. President-elect Barack Obama has named four former Clinton administration officials as part of his new team at the Justice Department, tapping Harvard Law School's dean, Elena Kagan, to become the first female solicitor general and Dawn Johnsen, a critic of Bush administration torture

Leon Panetta, a former congressman and Clinton chief of staff, would give Obama a political ally at the helm of the troubled spy agency. In choosing Leon E. Panetta to be the next CIA director, President-elect Barack Obama appears to have concluded that a spy chief who understands politics may be better equipped to carry out the incoming administration's national security agenda than one who understands espionage.

AFP - The new US Senate is set to convene in a swirl of allegations of corruption, voter fraud and dynastic nepotism that threatens to dog the early days of Barack Obama's presidency.

Reuters - Democrat Al Franken beat Republican incumbent Norm Coleman to win the U.S. Senate seat from Minnesota, officials conducting a final recount said on Monday, though the loser promised to challenge the result.

Reuters - With the economic outlook darkening, U.S. President-elect Democrat Barack Obama went to Congress two weeks before taking office to try to entice Republican support for a massive stimulus package with talk of big tax cuts.

Reuters - Toyota Motor Corp, reeling from its worst U.S. sales decline in more than a quarter of a century, will shut all its factories in Japan for 11 days as the global economic slump hits demand and company profits.

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama has chosen former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta to lead the CIA, which has been widely criticized for harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects, Democratic officials said on Monday.

Reuters - U.S. prosecutors asked a judge to jail accused swindler Bernard Madoff on Monday, saying he sent jewelry and other items worth more than $1 million to family and friends in violation of his bail.

Reuters - Israel pressed on with its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip for a fourth day on Tuesday despite new international calls for a ceasefire in a conflict in which more than 540 Palestinians have been killed.

AP - Jett Travolta's body shows no sign of head trauma and his death certificate says he was killed by a seizure, an undertaker said Monday, after doctors performed an autopsy on the 16-year-old son of the U.S actor.

AP - Take that, Andromeda! For decades, astronomers thought when it came to the major galaxies in Earth's cosmic neighborhood, our Milky Way was a weak sister to the larger Andromeda. Not anymore.

AP - Senate Democrats struggled to avert a showdown steeped in race and corruption Monday as a defiant Roland Burris declared, "I'm a United States senator" and flew to the capital to claim President-elect Barack Obama's old seat in Congress.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama plunged into rare pre-inaugural crisis talks with congressional leaders Monday, declaring the national economy was "bad and getting worse" and embracing tax cuts now expected to reach $300 billion. He predicted lawmakers would approve a mammoth revitalization package within two weeks of his taking office.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's decision to fill the nation's top intelligence jobs with two men short on direct experience in intelligence gathering surprised the spy community and signaled the Democrat's intention for a clean break from Bush administration policies.

AP - GAZA CITY, Gaza — Israel ignored mounting international calls for a cease-fire Monday and said it won't stop its crippling 10-day assault until "peace and tranquility" are achieved in southern Israeli towns in the line of Palestinian rocket fire.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp, reeling from its worst U.S. sales decline in more than a quarter of a century, will shut all its factories in Japan for 11 days as the global economic slump hits demand and company profits.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel pressed on with its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip for a fourth day on Tuesday despite new international calls for a ceasefire in a conflict in which more than 540 Palestinians have been killed.

A pair of deals by investor George Kaiser may signal smart money's return, albeit cautiously, to energy firms.

(Kyodo) _ Three opposition parties submitted to the Diet a bill Tuesday to amend the government-proposed second extra budget for the current fiscal year to remove 2.04 trillion yen...

Separatist militants shot dead five people in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, where a bloody insurgency marked its fifth anniversary at the weekend, police said Tuesday. An

Spending a couple of hours outdoors each day could help children avoid becoming short-sighted, Australian researchers said Tuesday. Exposure to bright light for two to three...