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Citigroup has reached a deal with top Democrats in the Senate on legislation to prevent home foreclosures. The lawmakers want to empower bankruptcy judges to force lenders to lower homeowners' payments.

The chairman of one of India's largest technology outsourcing companies has resigned after admitting the company's profits had been inflated for several years. The scandal at Satyam Computer Services Ltd. threatens future foreign investments in India and tarnishes the once-booming outsourcing sector.

On the 111th Congress' opening day Tuesday, Roland Burris showed up to claim Barack Obama's seat as the junior senator from Illinois. As promised, he was rejected. And a Senate seat for Minnesota remains vacant because of an election dispute. But the Senate carried on with its opening ceremonies.

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to choose former congressman Leon Panetta to head the CIA. Panetta has relatively little experience in national security matters, although he did participate in daily intelligence briefings with President Bill Clinton when he served as Clinton's chief of staff between 1994 and 1997.

News from Somalia usually involves violent warlords or pirates hijacking ships off the coast. Other than that, average Somalis don't have much of a voice. The rapper K'Naan is trying to change that, and in the world of hip-hop, he's become an artist to watch.

It was an unusually strong year for great unknown artists. While bigger, more established bands continued to attract the most attention, smaller, lesser-known acts made the most memorable music of 2008. All of the great unknown artists featured here made music that was inspired, original and heartfelt.

Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom has begun shutting off natural gas supplies to Ukraine after a deadline passed for talks over a price dispute. There are fears that the cutoff could affect gas deliveries to parts of Europe at the height of the winter season. In 2006, Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine and caused a brief disruption in gas supplies to Europe. NPR's Gregory Feifer talks with Steve Inskeep about Gazprom's decision.

The conflict in Gaza presents a challenge for the incoming Obama administration, which already was facing a packed Middle East agenda. Leslie Gelb tells Steve Inskeep that the question now is whether the situation in Gaza will make it harder for President-elect Barack Obama to keep his campaign promises of active peacemaking between the Israelis and Palestinians. Gelb is a former state and defense department official and president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Israeli warplanes have made more airstrikes into Gaza as key world powers pressure Israel and Hamas to call a truce. Hamas, meanwhile, is keeping up its rocket barrages into southern Israel. Israeli officials have turned down a call for a two-day truce in Gaza so medical, food and relief supplies could get in.

GMAC is the most recent beneficiary of a government bailout. As the financing arm of General Motors, it supplies funding for auto dealers to buy inventory and credit for consumers to buy cars. It is also a major player in the home mortgage market.