In a sign the fighting in Gaza may soon came to an end, Israel’s security cabinet is meeting Saturday night to vote on a cease fire. Under the Egyptian plan, fighting would stop for 10 days while Israeli forces stay in Gaza and border crossings remain closed in order to assure Hamas does not rearm. News of the impending vote comes on the heals of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s final diplomatic accomplishment today—signing a deal in Washington with Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni that pledges the United States will help stop weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip. Though Hamas has publically rejected the terms of the cease fire negotiators for the group were in touch with mediators in Cairo and signaled that they were ready to bring fighting to an end.

As the passengers on US Airways Flight 1549 returned home today, investigators kicked off their probe to find out what exactly caused the plane to go down. Their first obstacle: the engines are missing. Both engines of the plane seem to have separated as the Airbus A320 was towed to shore. Investigators at the Nation Transportation safety Board hope to find them in order to confirm that the geese that hit the engines were the only cause of the crash. A giant crane and a barge were brought in this afternoon to remove the plane from the water without breaking it into pieces—a difficult task. The NTSB is also set to meet with the flight's pilot Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III today in order to learn more about the events leading to the crash. Sullenberger has been praised as a hero and today Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he would offer to give him a key to the city.

The legal team representing Gov. Rod Blagojevich in impeachment proceedings has stepped down in protest before his trial goes to the Senate. The lawyers said the process was "fundamentally unfair" because it left them little time to prepare for the trial and denied them subpoena power. "We cannot and will not degrade our client, ourselves, our oaths and our profession, as well as the office of the governor, by participating in a Potemkin-like lynching proceeding, thus making it appear that the governor is represented by competent counsel when in fact he is not," attorney Sam Adam and his son, Samuel E. Adam said in a statement. The lawyers are still on board to represent Balgo in his upcoming criminal trial

At Circuit City, the country's second biggest electronics retailer, it's no longer just an advertising pitch. Everything actually must go, because the chain, which filed for bankruptcy in November, announced Friday it would go out of business and liquidate its inventory. It was unable to reach a deal with creditors and potential buyers while under Chapter 11 protection. The company's problems extend back further than the current economic crisis. For the past decade Circuit City has been hurt by poorly located stores, and failed management. Circuit City joins other retailer chains forced to shut their doors, including KB Toys, Linens 'N Things and Shaper Image.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino held her final press briefing on Friday—her 145th—and used the opportunity to poke fun at reporters and reflect on the 1,000-plus briefings that have occurred since President Bush took office. "I have a lot of respect for the White House press corps—don't look so surprised," she said. "America needs more reporters, not fewer." But does she think the profession is biased? "If it was a moot question, then we wouldn't always have the discussion," she answered.

Hours after the Senate released the second half of the TARP funds yesterday, Bank of America had a second helping, receiving a $20 billion infusion and a government guarantee on $118 billion of potential losses.  According to The New York Times, the problem with the Bank of America bailout, like the earlier $300 billion Citigroup bailout, “is that it is likely to conceal the amount of risk that taxpayers are taking on. If the government-guaranteed securities turn out to be worthless, the cost of the insurance would be much higher than if the Treasury Department had simply bailed out the banks with cash in the first place.” The Times goes on to ask whether nationalization is inevitable. “Particularly in the case of Citigroup, the losses have become so large that they make it almost mathematically impossible for the government to inject enough capital without taking a majority stake or at least squeezing out existing shareholders.”

So much for listening to both sides of the aisle. President-elect Barack Obama didn't tune into President Bush's farewell address to the nation last night. He and his wife Michelle were dining out at the Equinox restaurant in D.C. as Bush wished him luck, noting his inauguration on Tuesday as "a moment of hope and pride." The Obamas left their temporary residence at the Blair House just across from the White House mere minutes before Bush's speech began. A host at Equinox said Obama watched a TV at the bar for "a minute or two" but it's not known what he was watching and Obama's team hasn't responded to inquiries. Maybe he DVR'd it.

Cindy McCain was ready to get over her husband's election loss by joining the new cast of Dancing With the Stars—but John “put the kibosh on it,” a source told Page Six. "Just before Thanksgiving, Cindy McCain started talks with producers to appear as a dancer on the show,” the source explained. “She wanted to do it very badly.” Not as badly as we did.

North Korea, meet your next dictator: According to intelligence sources in Seoul, the ailing Kim Jong Il has chosen his youngest son, Jong Un, to rule the country when he is gone. Jong Un, thought to be no older than 24, is the son of Kim’s third and favorite wife and was educated in Switzerland. Thought to be an unlikely pick because of his youth, Jong Un will inherit a moribund economy, difficult foreign policy situation, and an agricultural crisis. At least now the frail Kim will have a vigorous son to stand by him at “Dear Leader” photo ops.

President Bush bid the nation farewell last night. How'd it go? Michael Crowley at The New Republic calls it "pretty weak tea. Fittingly for a Bush address, its center of gravity was a remembrance of September 11 and the hard choices it demanded, and a lot of treacly talk about the greatness of the American spirit." Crowley notes that there was "no real admission of error or regret. Rather, I thought Bush was conveying a sense of regret physically. His body language and facial expressions looked to me sheepish, contrite, and appealing for mercy in a 'I'm really not such a bad guy' kind of way."

Ronald Wilson Obama? The president-elect is surprising observers by hinting at a conservative path for Social Security and Medicare, perhaps as part of a grand bargain that would allow greater spending in other areas. "What we have done is kicked this can down the road. We are now at the end of the road and are not in a position to kick it any further," Obama said at a meeting with The Washington Post's editorial board. "We have to signal seriousness in this by making sure some of the hard decisions are made under my watch, not someone else's." Obama did not get into specifics as to what he planned to do to rein in spending or raise more revenue for the two government programs, but warned of "very difficult choices and issues of sacrifice and responsibility and duty."

Designer Kimora Lee Simmons and actor Djimon Hounsou are expecting their first child together, sources tell Us Weekly. Simmons has two daughters with ex-husband Russell Simmons. They split last year after 10 years of marriage.

Firebrand Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is trying a new tack: Speak softly and carry a big nuclear program. In a press conference yesterday, Ahmadinejad said he'd give Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt before branding him as the next Great Satan. "We will wait and see what his administration will do," he said. One potential snag in this outbreak of good feelings, however, are reports today that Iran may be sneaking in supplies for building advanced ballistic missiles from China and evading sanctions designed to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Andrew Wyeth, the reclusive American painter famous for "Christina's World," died in his sleep last night at the age of 91. The artist, whose erotic "Helga" series made headlines when it was discovered in the 1980s, is one of the most acclaimed American painters of the last century. He died at his home in Brandywine, PA, not far from where "Christina's World" was painted in 1948.

For one reviewer at the Guardian, it is unclear whether Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet's hearts will still go on. David Thomson rails the pair for everything from their performance in Revolutionary Road to their behavior at the Golden Globes. "Kate Winslet must have come very hungry, for she was ready to eat the furniture," he writes. And DiCaprio "simply lacks the life experience to make something of the pain of failed marriage in Revolutionary Road." Simply put, his "charm has gone."

Washington D.C. is known as "Hollywood for Ugly People," but on Tuesday night, it will look more just like plain Hollywood. Beyonce will sing the first song at Obama's first stop on Tuesday night, the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball. Other performers will include Jay-Z, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Shakira, Faith Hill, Stevie Wonder, and Mary J. Blige. Presenters at the ball, which will be broadcast on ABC, include Denzel Washington, Jessica Alba, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Queen Latifah.

One of the most anticipated movies of the new year, an adaptation of Alan Moore's superhero comic strip, Watchmen, looked like it would be delayed months after Fox successfully proved it owned the rights to the Warner Bros. feature. With an agreement between the two studios in place, however, the film is set to open in theaters March 6 as originally planned. Warner Bros. didn't get off the hook easy -- the company will pony up between $5 and $10 million in cash in addition to giving Fox between 5 and 8.5 percent of the film's worldwide gross, which, given the high expectations for the film, could be one hefty chunk of change.

Steve Jobs cited “more complex” health issues as his reason for temporarily stepping down from Apple. What might those issues be? Jobs had part of his pancreas removed during cancer treatment in an operation known as a "Whipple procedure" and medical experts say that he may need to have the rest of his pancreas taken out to manage side effects caused by the surgery. Jobs would have to take insulin frequently if that were to happen. Investors are watching the situation closely and Apple's stock has often plunged or risen on news of Jobs' health.

Europe’s latest sensational trial stars an American: Amanda Knox goes on trial today in Umbria alongside her Italian ex-boyfriend for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. According to The Independent, “the question of Ms Knox's sexual appetites, and how far she will go to gratify them, go to the heart of this disturbing case.” Ms. Kercher, who was stabbed to death in November 2007, is believed to have been murdered during a “sexual game”—or, according to the prosecutor of one man already serving time for the murder, “a satanic Halloween rite.” As she has awaited trial in prison, Knox has become something of an Italian national obsession. “The vivacious, sexually adventurous, guitar-playing student from Seattle has become a minor celebrity in Italy, ranked in a poll in December as one of Italy's ‘women of the year.’”

India and Pakistan can take their fingers off their nuclear triggers: In a sign that relations between the two countries are thawing, Pakistan said yesterday that it has arrested all the leaders of Lashkar e Taiba, the group believed to be responsible for November’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai. "The entire top, middle and lower-level leadership has been arrested," Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik said—124 arrests in total. This is good news for Pakistan-India relations, which have shown signs of thawing. On Wednesday, India scaled back its demand that all suspects be extradited to its soil. Lashkar, though damaged, has not been eliminated. It still maintains a presence, particularly in Kashmir.

In his final address to the American people tonight, President Bush defended his accomplishments over the past eight years while also acknowledging that his tenure was not without setbacks. "I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions," he said. In front of an audience of 200 in the White House’s East Room, Bush spoke about September 11, 2001, and how that day changed his presidency—and him—forever. "As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before 9/11. But I never did,” he said. The outgoing president also mentioned his successor Barack Obama. “Standing on the steps of the Capitol will be a man whose story reflects the enduring promise of our land. This is a moment of hope and pride for our whole nation. And I join all Americans in offering best wishes to President-elect Obama, his wife Michelle, and their two beautiful girls.”