AP - A government spokesman says Israel "welcomes" a proposal from France and Egypt to end fighting in the Gaza Strip.

AP - To a public wary of government spending, President-elect Barack Obama is offering a salve with his massive economic stimulus package: the promise of long-term fiscal discipline.

AP - Senate Democrats are looking for ways to defuse the standoff that has denied Roland Burris the vacated Illinois seat of President-elect Barack Obama.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's reported choice for surgeon general, CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, could bring a dose of star power to a job that hasn't had that much clout in decades.

AP - Mississippi now has the nation's highest teen pregnancy rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title, according to a new federal report released Wednesday.

AP - Wall Street headed for a lower open Wednesday, sobered by aluminum producer Alcoa Inc.'s decision to slash jobs and production to navigate through the global downturn.

AP - The recession figures to tone down the flashiness of this week's International Consumer Electronics Show, but the lineup of innovative products likely will measure up to those of past years.

AP - Alyssa Milano is engaged to marry a Hollywood agent. Publicists for Milano said Tuesday that the actress accepted a marriage proposal on Dec. 18 from David Bugliari, an agent at Creative Artists Agency. The two have been dating for over a year. No wedding date has been set.

AP - The team that pushed around the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA finals now isn't even tough enough for the Charlotte Bobcats. And suddenly, the slumping Boston Celtics aren't scaring anyone.

AP - A government spokesman says Israel "welcomes" a proposal from France and Egypt to end fighting in the Gaza Strip.

AP - "We have three foreigners, including women," the gunman said into the phone. The response was brutally simple: "Kill them." Gunshots then rang out inside the Mumbai hotel, followed by cheering that could be heard over the phone.

AP - Russia shut off all gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine on Wednesday — leaving tens of thousands of people in more than a dozen countries without heat during a winter cold snap. The EU accused both nations of holding consumers hostage in their contract dispute.

AP - Forces from the U.S.-led coalition killed 32 armed insurgents during a clash in eastern Afghanistan, the military said Wednesday.

AP - A female suicide bomber allegedly planning to blow herself up among Shiite pilgrims was arrested Wednesday in northern Iraq, as millions joined processions across the country to honor the martyrdom of one of their most revered saints, Iraqi police said.

AFP - Zimbabwe has delayed the opening of schools by two weeks, state media reported Wednesday, amid fears that teachers may not show up for classes due to the country's worsening humanitarian crisis.

AP - A senior U.S. diplomat said Wednesday that relations with China have deepened over the past decades and would strengthen further, as the countries played a friendly game of table tennis to commemorate 30 years of ties warmed by "pingpong diplomacy."