Yahoo! News: World News

Gaza civilian toll rises; diplomats seek truce (AP)
AP - Israel ignored mounting international calls for a cease-fire 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.

---

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

---

Wanted: Border monitors to oversee Gaza truce (AP)
AP - The contours of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas are emerging, with diplomacy focusing on international guarantees, including foreign border monitors to oversee any agreement.

---

Yahoo! Sports

Texas wins Fiesta Bowl on late TD pass (AP)
Left out of the national title game, Colt McCoy and Texas made the most of their trip to the Fiesta Bowl. They just hope they did enough to impress poll voters. McCoy hit Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play, lifting the third-ranked Longhorns to a 24-21 victory over No. 10 Ohio State on Monday night.

---

'Melo suffers 'probable' hand fracture (AP)
Carmelo Anthony could barely put on his socks and struggled to fasten his watch. Tying his shoes? That was simply too much for his injured right hand. Anthony scored 21 points and set a season-high with nine assists despite injuring his hand in the third quarter of the Denver Nuggets' 135-115 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.

---

Report: QB Cassel to get franchise tag (AP)
The New England Patriots plan to put the franchise tag on quarterback Matt Cassel, according to a published report. Cassel's future hinges heavily on Tom Brady's recovery from a season-ending knee injury in the first game this season. Franchising Cassel would keep him from becoming an unrestricted free agent and give the Patriots an option if they feel Brady might not be ready for the start of the...

---

Yahoo! News: Business

Asia stocks edge up for 7th day (Reuters)
Reuters - Asian stocks inched higher for a seventh day on Tuesday on hopes for a global economic recovery later in 2009, but the yen's gains against high-yielding currencies suggested scope for optimism was limited.

---

Car sales plunge heralding bleak 2009 (Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. auto sales plunged by 36 percent in December led by outsized declines at Chrysler LLC, Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) and Toyota Motor Corp(7203.T) as the battered industry closed out its weakest year since 1992 in its largest single market.

---

Prosecutors seek to jail Madoff (Reuters)
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.

---

Yahoo! News: Most Viewed

Death certificate: Travolta son killed by seizure (AP)
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.

---

Bush family's 18-year-old cat dies (AP)
AP - The first family leaving the White House this month will be without one of its longtime members: the Bush family's 18-year-old cat has died.

---

A Spurt of Quake Activity Raises Fears in Yellowstone (Time.com)
Time.com - Scientists are carefully measuring the geological activity in the national park because it contains the caldera of an enormous, ancient and still active volcano

---