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President-elect Barack Obama named Nancy Killefer as his chief performance officer. Her job will be to bring modern ideas of business efficiency to the White House. Obama also spoke of his plans to revive the economy without worsening the federal budget deficit.

Investor Bernard Madoff has been placed under house arrest after allegations he ran a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of up to $50 billion. Christopher Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said he was "gravely concerned" about the SEC's failure to act.

NPR's Ivan Watson, who had a close call Sunday when his car was targeted by a bomb, says there has been an increase in violence in the Iraqi capital. He says in November alone, there were 108 bombings in the city with a civilian death toll of 148.

President-elect Barack Obama has unveiled his national security team. Among the main appointments: Defense Secretary Robert Gates is staying on at the Pentagon, Sen. Hillary Clinton will be secretary of state and Eric Holder will be the attorney general.

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.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) unveiled a financial regulation bill Tuesday that would take the job of overseeing banks away from the Fed, and give it to a new agency. But fellow Democrats Barney Frank (D-MA) and President Obama have a different approach on the issue. David Wessel, economics editor of The Wall Street Journal, offers his insight.

The Army says at least 12 were killed and 31 people wounded in a pair of shootings at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas. An Army spokesman said three shooters were apparently involved.

President Obama will tour several Western locales this weekend, including the western slope city of Grand Junction, Colo. The city is the site of an innovative program for controlling health care costs that the president wants to highlight.

Police in Cambridge, Mass., have released the tapes of a 911 call and radio dispatches that led officers to the home of Henry Louis Gates Jr., where the Harvard scholar was arrested for disorderly conduct two weeks ago.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey says he wants Congress, not judges, to make policy on how Guantanamo detainees may challenge their detention. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against the Bush administration three times in cases related to processing Guantanamo detainees.