AP - Even as Republicans publicly welcome President Barack Obama's call for a bipartisan confab on health care, some privately worry that he might be laying a trap to portray their ideas as flimsy.

AP - The Israeli government has stepped in to try to save a house built illegally by Jewish settlers in a volatile Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem.

AP - Aid groups in Pakistan need nearly $538 million over the next six months to help hundreds of thousands of people displaced by army clashes against the Taliban, the U.N. said in an international appeal Tuesday.

AP - Toyota says it is recalling about 437,000 Prius and other hybrid vehicles worldwide to fix brake problems — the latest in a string of embarrassing safety lapses at the world's largest automaker.

AP - Michael Jackson's doctor returns to court in April to find out the date for the next major step in the case — a proceeding that will reveal for the first time the evidence the prosecution believes will show his "gross negligence" was the direct cause of the pop star's death.

AFP - Sachin Tendulkar hit his third century in a row but could not stop South Africa from moving closer to victory on the fourth day of the first Test against India on Tuesday.

AP - North Korea's Kim Jong Il reportedly dispatched his top nuclear envoy to Beijing on Tuesday to discuss restarting nuclear disarmament talks, a day after pledging Pyongyang's commitment to a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

AP - The head of Iran's atomic agency said the Islamic Republic would not enrich uranium to a higher level if the West provides the fuel it needs for the Tehran research reactor.

AFP - The UN nuclear watchdog said Tuesday that a team of its inspectors was in place in Iran to monitor Tehran's plans to start enriching uranium to higher levels.

AFP/File - Toyota said Tuesday it would recall more than 400,000 hybrid vehicles around the world, including its latest Prius model, plunging deeper into crisis as lawsuits in the United States piled up.

AP - Endeavour's astronauts inspected their ship early Tuesday for any launch damage as they raced toward a 200-mile-high rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Reuters - Toyota Motor Corp said it is recalling nearly half a million of its flagship Prius and other hybrid cars for braking problems as it seeks to address criticism over the handling of its worst safety crisis.

AP - Over the past 12 years, Josh Libresco's health insurance premium has increased almost eight-fold for his family of four.

AP - Rep. John Murtha, who said the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq was based on "flawed policy wrapped in illusion" and called for a withdrawal of U.S. troops there, is being remembered as an advocate on Capitol Hill for those serving in military uniform.

Reuters - Iran began work on Tuesday to make higher-grade nuclear fuel, a senior official said, and the Pentagon said the United States wanted a U.N. Security Council resolution on Iran "within weeks" over its nuclear program.

AP - Another jolt of Saints euphoria is on tap for New Orleans Tuesday when the Super Bowl champs board floats borrowed from Mardi Gras krewes for a victory parade through the grateful city.

AP - A second major storm in less than a week was blowing Tuesday toward the Mid-Atlantic region, where plows still hadn't touched some roads, utility workers were struggling to restore power and shovels were in short supply.

AP - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to see the United Nations slap sanctions on Iran in "weeks, not months."

AP - A sheriff's dispatcher says fires have struck two more rural east Texas churches, just hours after investigators announced that a blaze last week marked the eighth arson against a house of worship in the state this year.

AP - Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama has released the "holds" he had placed on every one of President Barack Obama's nominees, his office said Monday.

Reuters - President Barack Obama's call for a healthcare summit including both his fellow Democrats and Republicans sets the stage for a final push to get stalled legislation through Congress, but skeptical Republicans said on Monday the only solution is to start over.

AP - Mexican federal police arrested two suspected gang leaders Monday, delivering another big blow to a brutal drug cartel that terrorized the border city of Tijuana for several years.

AP - Authorities launched a criminal investigation Monday into the cause of an explosion that killed five people at a power plant under construction, saying they couldn't rule out negligence.

AP - New York Gov. David Paterson on Monday lashed back at what he called a "callous and sleazy" assault on his character in statehouse rumors and media reports that include accusations about womanizing and drug use, allegations he flatly denied.

AP - Days before a former suburban Chicago police officer's fourth wife vanished in 2007, she told a divorce attorney that her husband thought she suspected he had killed his previous wife and suggested extorting money from him to keep quiet, the lawyer testified Monday.

Reuters - Federal government agencies in the capital region will remain closed for a second day on Tuesday as residents brace for another blizzard while trying to clean up from a weekend storm that paralyzed the area with two feet of snow.

AP - Charlie Sheen and his wife were reunited Monday after a judge modified a restraining order and allowed them them to work out their differences following a Christmas Day domestic violence dispute in which the actor allegedly pinned his spouse on a bed with a knife to her throat.