Egyptian FM Ahmed Aboul Gheit, (l) French FM Bernard Kouchner, (c), and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leave a meeting on Gaza at UN headquarters in New York, 8 Jan. 2009

ISRAEL - PALESTINIANS: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israel will continue its offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire. Hamas leaders also dismissed the measure, saying it did not take Palestinian interests into account. The resolution, approved late Thursday by a 14-0 vote, calls for a truce leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. It also demands an end to Hamas rocket attacks and calls for the unimpeded distribution of humanitarian aid. The United States abstained from the vote, saying it wants to see the outcome of mediation efforts by Egypt.

CIA logo

US - PAKISTAN - AL-QAIDA: A U.S. counter-terrorism official says the head of al-Qaida's operations in Pakistan, and his top aide were killed by a CIA missile strike on New Year's Day. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday the two were believed to be Kenyan nationals. The men, identified as Usama al-Kini and his aide, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, were high on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorism suspects. . Usama al-Kini is believed to be responsible for several attacks, including the bombing of a Marriott hotel in Islamabad in September that killed more than 50 people.

Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka's military says troops fighting are to capture the highly strategic Elephant Pass, the Tamil Tiger rebels' last stronghold in the north. Military officials today said the causeway, which links the Jaffna peninsula with the northern mainland, was close to falling to government troops after they entered the area days ago. Most of the Jaffna peninsula is already in government hands. Troops captured the rebel capital Kilinochchi, last week. Meanwhile, authorities said at least three security personnel and four civilians were killed in northeastern Sri Lanka today during a rebel attack.

An Afghan official inspects the wreckage of a car used in a suicide car bomb attack targeting a convoy of NATO's military forces in Herat province, Afghanistan, 26 Dec 2008

AFGHANISTAN - VIOLENCE: Afghan officials say a suicide bomber has killed six people, including one police officer, at a market in the south of the country. The governor of Nimroz province says the bomber was apparently targeting the police officer who was killed in today's blast in the town of Zaranj. The official had said earlier that more than 10 people were killed during the bombing. Also today, the U.S. military said coalition forces killed five militants in a Thursday attack on a bomb-making network in the southern province of Zabul. Officials said troops came under fire while pursuing a Taliban militant known to have directed roadside bomb attacks along the country's major highway.

Thailand

THAILAND - US - PEDOPHILE: Police in Thailand have arrested a man wanted in the United States on child sex charges. Forty-one-year-old Darren Ray Castleberry could be extradited to the United States within the next few days. Prosecutors in the southern state of Texas have brought four charges against Castleberry for aggravated sexual assault against a child. He also faces two charges of sexual assault on a child between the ages of 14 and 17. The U.S. war veteran videotaped some of the acts. Castleberry fled to Thailand in 2006. International police had issued a warrant for his arrest.

Online criminals are growing bolder with each click of a mouse. From credit card and identification theft to child pornography, criminals keep finding new ways to victimize millions of people

CHINA - INTERNET - PORN: China has expanded its crackdown on objectionable material on the Internet, targeting more than a dozen Web sites accused of publishing pornographic and vulgar content. U.S.-based Microsoft's MSN is one of the Web sites cited in the expanded list issued late Thursday. Beijing criticized 19 other Internet operators and Web sites for not doing enough to eliminate pornography, including Google and popular domestic provider Baidu. The agency says Google has made progress to clean up the site, but calls Baidu's efforts "ineffective."

President-elect Barack Obama makes remarks on nation's economy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, 08 Jan 2009

OBAMA - ECONOMY: President-elect Barack Obama has warned that a "bad situation could become dramatically worse" if Congress does not pump an unprecedented amount of money into the faltering U.S. economy. Mr. Obama's comments on Thursday were designed to help win congressional and public support for his massive economic stimulus proposal -- a two-year plan costing as much as 800 billion dollars. He said the plan includes tax cuts for most Americans, along with spending on roads, schools, health care, and energy. Mr. Obama blamed the crisis on what he called "profound irresponsibility" and pledged to improve regulation to keep reckless greed and risk from threatening the U.S. economy again.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden speaks during a meeting on the economy in Washington, 23 Dec. 2008

BIDEN - PAKISTAN: The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan says U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden has arrived in the country to meet with Pakistan's top military and political leaders. The incoming-vice president is leading a congressional delegation to South Asia. Senator Biden is making the trip as outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Earlier this week, Biden's office released a statement saying the group will be on a fact-finding mission, but it did not disclose the itinerary or other details about the trip for security reasons. Biden met with Kuwait's prime minister Thursday during a stop in the emirate on his way to South Asia.

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