Israeli tanks advance more deeply into Gaza

Top News of Middle East: Israeli tanks advance more deeply into Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli tanks rolled into densely populated parts of the city of Gaza on Tuesday and troops fought intense battles with Hamas militants as world leaders struggled to coax the sides into a ceasefire.

Hamas said its forces detonated explosives beneath Israeli armor and fought with Israeli forces backed by helicopter gunships and naval fire in what appeared to be the most ferocious fighting since Israel sent ground troops into Gaza 10 days ago.

Explosions and the din of heavy machine gun fire echoed continuously through the Hamas-ruled territory's largest city before dawn. Flashes of light lit up the skies.

The Palestinian death toll in the 18 days since Israel launched its air offensive passed 900, including many civilians. Israel has had 10 soldiers killed and three civilians from motars and rockets fired from coastal Gaza.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon headed to the region to press for a truce in a week of talks with leaders in Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Syria.

"My message is simple, direct, and to the point: the fighting must stop. To both sides, I say: Just stop now," Ban told reporters before his departure.

Egypt pursued efforts to broker a ceasefire with Gaza, a territory that sits on its northern border.

But Lebanese political sources said Hamas negotiators would on Tuesday reject Cairo's proposals to end the offensive Israel said it launched so as to halt sporadic rocket fire from Gaza that causes few casualties but disrupts life in southern Israel.

Hamas's main objections were to a proposed long-term truce and to any ceasefire being put in place before Israel withdrew all its forces from Gaza, one of the Lebanese sources said.

Israel has rejected a United Nations Security Council call for a truce but said it was ready to discuss further proposals.

TANKS DEEPER INTO GAZA

Despite a world drive to end the fighting, Israel pressed on with its offensive, sending its tanks into built-up areas in the city of Gaza, the deepest thrust since the attack began.

Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Avi Benayahu said on Monday Israel was "deeper in the territory." Reserve units had moved in to free up regular troops for the push into the city.

"We are tightening the encirclement of the city," Brigadier General Eyal Eisenberg told reporters touring Israeli positions on Monday.

Three Israeli soldiers were wounded in a "friendly fire" incident in Gaza on Monday night, the military spokesman said.

Obama seeks remaining $350 billion in bailout funds

U.S. President-elect Obama seeks remaining $350 billion in bailout funds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama on Monday sought the remaining $350 billion of federal financial bailout funds from Congress, pledging a major overhaul that would distribute the money more widely and impose tougher restrictions on recipient companies.

Obama said he asked President George W. Bush to make the request on his behalf so he could take office next week with the funds at the ready to deal with a "still fragile" financial system.

"I felt that it would be irresponsible for me, with the first $350 billion already spent, to enter into the administration without any potential ammunition should there be some sort of emergency or a weakening of the financial system," Obama told reporters.

Obama and his economic team agreed to new restrictions and changes to the program to address concerns by fellow Democrats, who control both houses in Congress and have been critical of the Bush administration's handling of the funds so far.

The $700 billion rescue program was approved last October to bolster the financial industry as it reeled under the stress of bad mortgage debts and several major institutions were threatened with collapse.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson initially sold the program as necessary to buy up troubled assets to free banks to resume lending. But he quickly shifted focus and the first $350 billion was used primarily to make direct investments in financial institutions to buttress their capital.

Many lawmakers have complained that some recipients of the funds continue to pay big executive bonuses and shareholder dividends while loans are still difficult to get.

"Many of us have been disappointed with the absence of clarity, the lack of transparency, the failure to track how the money's been spent and the failure to take bold action with respect to areas like housing," Obama said.

"My commitment is that we are going to fundamentally change some of the practices in using this next phase of the program. We're going to focus on housing foreclosures, we're going to focus on small businesses, we're going to focus on what's required to make sure that credit is flowing to consumers and businesses," the president-elect added.

Bush submitted the request to Congress Monday evening, which under the law for the bailout starts a 15-day clock for lawmakers to decide whether to block access to the remaining $350 billion.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate could vote on the issue as early as Thursday. Democrats have not said when the House of Representatives would vote.

The 18-page request to Congress said the remaining funds would be used partly to help homeowners facing mortgage foreclosures as well as expand existing programs. But it did not offer specific details about how.

Top Senate and House Republicans quickly raised questions about the program.

"I would be hard-pressed to support additional funding for the TARP without sufficient assurances this money will not be wasted, misspent or simply used for more industry-specific bailouts," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said.

The Treasury has allocated in excess of the first $350 billion in funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, but it said on Monday it has disbursed only $265.3 billion so far.

Obama seeks bailout funds amid corporate gloom

Latest News of USA: Obama seeks bailout funds amid corporate gloom

WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama sought the remaining half of $700 billion in financial bailout funds from Congress, as sinking corporate earnings underlined the depth of the gathering recession.

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. kicked off the Wall Street earnings season with a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and a source said Sony Corp was expected to post its first operating loss in 14 years this business year.

As politicians worldwide try to alleviate sharply slowing growth and mounting job losses, Obama said he had asked President George W. Bush to formally request the remaining bailout funds so they could be ready when he takes office on January 20.

"I felt that it would be irresponsible for me, with the first $350 billion already spent, to enter into the administration without any potential ammunition should there be some sort of emergency or a weakening of the financial system," Obama said.

The $700 billion rescue program was approved last October to bolster the financial industry plagued by bad mortgage debts that pushed several major institutions to the brink of collapse.

CORPORATE LOSSES

Sony shares fell 8 percent on media reports of its likely loss. A source close to the matter told Reuters the maker of Bravia flat TVs and Playstation 3 video game consoles may post an operating loss of about $1.1 billion for the year to end-March.

The news came as Alcoa, which is slashing 15,000 jobs, posted a net loss of $1.19 billion for the fourth quarter on lower demand and declining metal prices.

"The aluminum industry was caught up in a perfect storm ... prices have never fallen so fast," President and Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld told analysts.

In South Korea, the country's No. 5 automaker Ssangyong Motor Co said it had suspended production at all of its factories as some suppliers stopped delivering parts worried whether they will get paid by the company, which fights to avoid bankruptcy.

Earlier Citigroup shares had fallen 17 percent after a Wall Street Journal report the bank might post a quarterly operating loss of at least $10 billion.

The corporate gloom took its toll on equity markets, with Asian indexes following U.S. stocks lower. Tokyo's Nikkei, which had been closed for a holiday on Monday, fell more than 4 percent.

A record rise in Japanese bank lending in December only added to the gloom. Hardly a sign of any business upturn, the data was a sign that companies struggled to raise cash in the commercial paper and bond markets as they used to and were forced to borrow directly from banks.

BLEAK OUTLOOK

Most of the world's developed economies are already officially in recession and the outlook for 2009 is bleak.

Israel vs Gaza: 900 to 13 and Counting

Latest New of Middle East-Israel vs Gaza: 900 to 13 and Counting

All this talk of a proportionate response and Israel defending itself seems to be off the mark by the numbers. If a man hits you and you beat up his whole family is that proportionate response? Is shooting a man for throwing a rock at your window defending yourself?

Reuters reports that as of today, more than 900 Palestinians have been killed, including 382 civilians. This is comparison to 13 Israeli’s who have been killed, including 3 civilians. It is estimated that 40% of all the Gaza casualties have been civilians . From 2005 through 2007 there were 86 Israeli’s killed, 8 of which were civilians, meaning less than 10% of all Israeli’s killed during the time were civilians.

Advanced Snake Robot in Japan!

Watch Here Latest an introduction of an advanced snake robot in Japan