Sunday, January 18, 2009
International
TOP STORIES as of 1000 GMT -- 18 January, 2009
ROCKETS FIRED INTO ISRAEL AFTER CEASE-FIRE
Militants fire six rockets into southern Israel and exchange
gunfire with troops in northern Gaza Sunday, hours after Israel
declares a unilateral cease-fire in the Palestinian territory,
an Israeli spokesman says.
ADULATION FOR OBAMA ON HISTORIC TRAIN RIDE
President-elect Barack Obama said he gets his inspiration from
President Abraham Lincoln, so it's only fitting that the
president-elect would retrace Lincoln's 1861 trip from
Philadelphia to Washington.
MUGABE: POWER-SHARING TALKS MAKE OR BREAK
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe warned that a meeting Mondaywith
the leader of the opposition will be the last before he
forms a government.
RUSSIA, UKRAINE AGREE TO RESUME GAS FLOW
The prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement
early Sunday morning to resume gas supplies to Europe by early
next week.
CHINA CONFIRMS GIRL INFECTED WITH BIRD FLU
A 2-year-old girl in northern China is in critical condition
after testing positive for bird flu, state media said Sunday. It
is China's second confirmed case of the virus this month.
CRIPPLED JETLINER HOISTED FROM HUDSON RIVER
An US Airways jetliner that landed on the Hudson River Thursday
was successfully hoisted out of the water late Saturday,
following several hours of work by crews in frigid conditions.
N. KOREA SAYS IT HAS 'WEAPONIZED' PLUTONIUM
Senior North Korean officials say the communist regime has
"weaponized" its stockpile of plutonium, according to a U.S.
scholar, in a move suggesting that North Korea may have
significantly hardened its stance on nuclear negotiations.
SIX GUANTANAMO DETAINEES RELEASED
Six detainees were released from the U.S. military's detention
center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Department of Defense said
Saturday.
-----------------------------------------
BUSINESS
CITIGROUP TO SPLIT AFTER $8.3B LOSS
Citigroup has announced plans to split the company in two after
reporting a bigger than expected fourth quarter loss of more
than eight billion dollars.
KELLOGG RECALLS PRODUCTS AMID SALMONELLA SCARE
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 453 people
in 43 states and Canada have been infected with salmonella
Typhimurium.
BANK OF AMERICA GETS NEW BAILOUT PACKAGE
Bank of America will get another $20 billion from the U.S.
government's bailout fund, with federal guarantees for another
$118 billion in mortgage-backed securities on its balance
sheets, the Treasury Department announced early Friday.
