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Retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to head the Department of Veteran Affairs, has promised to modernize the agency. Shinseki appeared Wednesday before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee at his confirmation hearing.

A massive fire in the Angeles National Forest nearly doubled in size overnight, threatening 12,000 homes in the Los Angeles area. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has issued emergency declarations for four counties.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is on a short swing through the Middle East, was in Iraq on Tuesday. On his agenda: a visit to a command post in southern Iraq where U.S. troops serve in an advisory capacity; a meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a visit to Kurdistan.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called the recent beating death of a Chicago teen a "wake-up call" that would lead to action. Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan held a news conference with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. The two Cabinet officials were sent by the White House to Chicago after the killing.

President Biden heads to a New York district where Republicans eked out a victory in 2022. It's part of a push to put pressure on vulnerable Republicans to lift the debt ceiling.

Financial assistance to Ukraine will help shore up the country's currency, which has maintained strong buying power despite the war.

The House has passed an $825 billion economic stimulus bill. However, no Republicans voted for the bill. They say it has too much spending and not enough tax cuts. It was a loss for bipartisanship but an early win for President Obama — just eight days into his presidency. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Senators announced a compromise between House and Senate negotiators on the economic stimulus package. Some House Democrats are upset that money for states and schools had been removed from the measure, but backed the deal.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized on Thursday and treated for pancreatic cancer. Ginsburg, 75, has told friends she intends to be back on the bench when the court reconvenes Feb. 23. Nevertheless, there's speculation about whom President Obama would chose to replace her should she step down.

A Congressional subcommittee on Wednesday had a hearing with two witnesses who warned the Bush administration against harsh interrogation techniques. One is Ali Soufan, the FBI agent who interrogated Abu Zubaydah. The other is Philip Zelikow, the State Department official who protested that there was no legal basis for justifying the techniques.