Michele Norris

President-elect Obama named former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta to head the CIA and retired Adm. Dennis Blair to be national intelligence director.

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to announce his picks for his energy and environment team at a Chicago news conference. Nobel laureate Steven Chu is expected to be Obama's energy secretary; Lisa Jackson is likely to be named the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration have recommend that drugs Serevent and Foradil no longer be used for asthma. Top-selling Advair was not affected by the recommendation.

President-elect Barack Obama comes from the same city and state as Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and it was the Obama seat in the Senate that Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell. Is it possible this scandal will leave the new president unsinged?

Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards were indicted and a sixth is in plea negotiations with prosecutors for a 2007 shooting in Baghdad. The shooting killed 17 Iraqis.

The 2008 presidential race was many things to many people, but almost everyone agrees that it was long — epic even. So what better way to tell the story of the past political year than in an epic poem? That's where Calvin Trillin's Deciding the Next Decider comes in.

The head of the United Auto Workers has said the union is willing to change its contract and will delay billions of dollars in payments to a union-run health care trust. The concession is a bid to help Detroit's ailing Big Three automakers.

The Big Three automakers have presented their plans to Congress for how they will restructure themselves to make them worthy of a congressional bailout. Ford says it wants a $9 billion standby line of credit; GM has sought $12 billion. Chrysler is expected to ask for $7 billion.

Gunmen have opened fire at seven sites in the Indian city of Mumbai. The coordinated terrorist attacks seemed aimed, at least in part, at Westerners. At least 78 people have died so far. Among the targets were two luxury hotels and a restaurant frequented by travelers.

Nobel laureate Toni Morrison says she wanted to "remove race from slavery" in her new novel. Set in 17th century America, A Mercy features black, white and Native American characters in different degrees of servitude.