TOP NEWS STORIES (jan 4, 2012)

1. President Barack Obama will use a recess appointment to name Richard Cordray as the nation's chief consumer watchdog.

2. Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday welcomed a possible deal that would allow Taliban insurgents to open an office in Gulf nation of Qatar with the aim of holding talks with the United States.

3. The suspect in a string of arsons in the Los Angeles area is also under investigation in his home country of Germany for a house fire last fall, a prosecutor said Wednesday.