Stories Making Headlines Right Now

Associated Press
Published: January 6, 2009

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS
    Israel pressing attack

More Israeli shells are hitting today, as
tanks rumble closer to larger towns in Gaza.
    Witnesses say the sounds of fighting can be heard from around
the new Israeli positions. Israel already has encircled Gaza City,
the area’s biggest city.
    At least 18 more people have been killed in today’s shelling.
    The Israeli military says three of its soldiers were killed and
24 wounded in a friendly fire incident. An Israeli tank mistakenly
fired on a building in which they had taken cover.
    Meanwhile, the international Red Cross says a “full-blown”
humanitarian crisis now exists in Gaza, with civilian casualties
mounting and clean water supplies running out.

SENATE-BURRIS
    Burris says he’ll try to be seated today

Barack Obama’s appointed successor declares
that he’s qualified to take a seat in the Senate and will go to
Capitol Hill today to do just that.
    Burris says he’s presenting himself as the legally appointed
senator from the state of Illinois. He tells CBS it’s his “hope
and prayer” that the appointment will be recognized when the new
Congress convenes today.
    Burris dismissed the Senate Democratic leadership’s position
that he cannot be seated because he was appointed by a governor
accused in a criminal complaint.
    Gov. Rod Blagojevich is accused of trying to benefit financially
from his authority to fill the seat that Obama vacated after
winning the presidential election.

NEW CONGRESS
    Stimulus tops agenda of new Congress

The newest session of Congress starts today
and lawmakers will be getting right to work.
    The focus will be passing an economic stimulus plan which
President-elect Barack Obama hopes to have on his desk within about
two weeks of his inauguration.
    Democrats enter this session having gained more than 20 new
seats in the House.

ILLINOIS GOVERNOR
    NEW: Ill. impeachment panel may end without FBI tapes

Members of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s
(blah-GOY’-uh-vich-ez) impeachment panel plan to move forward even
if they don’t get to hear federal wiretaps of the governor’s
conversations.
    A lawyer for the impeachment panel says the “tapes are relevant
evidence.“ But he also says the panel has amassed “a large volume
of evidence” and could wrap up its work as early as this week.
    A federal judge could decide by Thursday whether to release
wiretapped conversations of Blagojevich allegedly seeking personal
gain in exchange for government action.
    Blagojevich is accused in a scheme to sell or trade the U.S.
Senate seat left vacant by Barack Obama’s election as president.
The governor says he hasn’t done anything wrong.

JAPAN-TOYOTA
    Toyota to suspend production in Japan for 11 days

Toyota is suspending production at all 12 of its
plants in Japan for 11 days over February and March.
    It’s a stoppage of unprecedented scale for the automaker as it
deal with shrinking global demand. The last time Toyota halted
production in Japan was in 1993, when demand plunged because of a
rising yen. But that was for just one day.
    The auto industry has been hammered by the global economic
downturn, forcing carmakers to cut staff, lower production and
delay new models.
    Four of Toyota’s factories in Japan produce vehicles while the
rest make engines and auto parts.

IRAQ-BLACKWATER
    Former guards have hearing today

Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards are
expected to appear in federal court to answer to manslaughter
charges in the 2007 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians in
Baghdad.
    The Blackwater guards will appear at an arraignment in U.S.
District Court on Tuesday.
    Prosecutors said the men unleashed a gruesome attack on unarmed
Iraqis, including women, children and people trying to escape. But
defendants contend they opened fire after coming under attack when
a car in a State Department convoy they were escorting broke down.
    The five guards are expected to plead not guilty to manslaughter
and weapons charges in the shootings.
    A sixth has pleaded guilty.
    Blackwater is the largest contractor providing security in Iraq.

BUSH-MARINE CONSERVATION
    Bush to designate Pacific island chains in conservation effort

Just two years ago, President George W. Bush
made a huge chunk of the Hawaiian Islands a national monument,
thereby preventing fishing, oil and gas extraction and tourism from
their waters and coral reefs. At the time, it was the largest
conservation area in the world.
    Today, Bush will dwarf that designation with another set-aside,
also involving areas in the Pacific Ocean that are part of U.S.
territories.
    The three areas, totaling nearly 200,000 square miles, include
the Mariana Trench and the waters and corals surrounding three
uninhabited islands in the chain, the Rose Atoll in American Samoa
and 7 islands along the equator.
    The move triggered some opposition from indigenous communities,
and falls short of what environmentalists had been hoping for.

IOWA FLOOD RECOVERY
    Iowa lawmakers to focus on recovery from floods

Iowa lawmakers are getting ready to
budget big bucks to help areas hit by floods and tornados last year
continue their recovery. That could prove tricky in a year when the
state’s budget deficit could top $600 million.
    Some lawmakers feel the state has no choice but to find the
money.
    A representative from Cedar Rapids, where floods did an
estimated $5.6 billion in damage, says a full recovery is essential
to the state’s economic survival. That’s why he expects colleagues
in areas that haven’t been hurt to support the recovery
initiatives.
    Iowa has been helped some by about $1.3 billion in federal
funding. That money is being used to chip away at problems,
especially housing.

OBAMA-YOUTH BALL
    NEW: Obama adds ‘Youth Ball’ to festivities

President-elect Barack Obama is adding a
“Youth Ball” to the parties planned to celebrate his Jan. 20
inauguration.
    The Presidential Inaugural Committee said Tuesday the ball for
people aged 18 to 35 would celebrate “the role young Americans can
play to serve their communities.“ Tickets will be available for a
reduced price of $75. Most inaugural ball tickets are $150.
    The committee also announced regional inaugural balls for guests
from the Midwest, West, East, South and Mid-Atlantic regions of the
country, as well as balls for guests from Obama’s home states of
Illinois and Hawaii and Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s home
states of Delaware and Pennsylvania.
    The committee said there will be a total of 10 inaugural balls.

NEW YEAR’S BALL
    New York City’s New Year’s Eve ball to rise again

Happy new year in reverse!
    The massive Waterford crystal ball that descended in Times
Square to ring in 2009 is being lit again and sent back up a
141-foot flagpole, where it will remain year-round.
    The ball, 12 feet in diameter, weighing nearly 12,000 pounds,
and covered with 2,668 Waterford Crystal triangles, will now have a
permanent home on the roof of One Times Square.
    The ball will be raised midway up the flagpole, where it will be
used during the next New Year’s celebration.
    Organizers say the ball will also be used on Valentine’s Day,
the Fourth of July and Halloween.