I sincerely apologize both for the brevity and for the tardiness of tonight's OND. I experienced connection problems on my computer. Hopefully all is well now.
On a happier note, on behalf of myself and the entire OND crew, Happy New Year!
Yahoo: White House says cease-fire depends on Hamas
President George W. Bush believes the first steps in any cease-fire in the ongoing violence in the Mideast will require the Islamic militant group Hamas to agree to stop firing rockets into Israel now and in the future, the White House said Wednesday. From his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Bush called Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for the first time since the conflict escalated between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
"I think President Bush thinks that Hamas needs to stop firing rockets and that is what will be the first step in a cease-fire," White House deputy press secretary Gordon Johndroe told reporters covering the president's stay in Texas. Johndroe said that Hamas also needs to stop smuggling weapons into Gaza — a move that would show it doesn't intend to continue to target Israel.
"So I think they're certainly on the same page on that," Johndroe said, briefing reporters on the Bush-Olmert phone call.
Reuters: Egypt's ruling party attacks Hamas and allies
Egypt's ruling party accused the Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas on Wednesday of adventurism, irresponsibility and ignoring Egyptian advice on Gaza. The National Democratic Party (NDP) said in a statement that Egypt was the victim of an organised campaign by Hamas and its regional allies -- Iran, Syria and the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Iran and Hezbollah have criticised Egypt for failing to open its border with Gaza, in effect cooperating with the Israeli blockade of the impoverished coastal strip.
"(The party) notes that the leadership of Hamas is responsible for the turn that events have taken (in Gaza)," said the NDP secretariat. The statement also condemned Israeli raids which have killed almost 400 people in Gaza. "The Hamas movement has thwarted all attempts to achieve Palestinian national unity and has not accepted repeated Egyptian advice on the importance of maintaining the truce (with Israel)," the NDP statement added.
MSNBC: Record U.S. deaths in Afghanistan in 2008
A record 151 U.S. forces died in Afghanistan in 2008, the deadliest year yet in a seven-year war that military officials say is likely to get even bloodier in 2009, as thousands more American troops pour into the country.
The number of roadside bombs doubled from the year before to roughly 2,000, with many of the devices more powerful than in previous years.
Unlike in 2007, when militants carried out ambushes only in small numbers, insurgents over the last year massed in groups of hundreds on multiple occasions. Some 200 militants nearly overran a small U.S. outpost in eastern Afghanistan in July, launching an early morning attack that killed nine U.S. troops.
Reuters: Cholera outbreak kills 11 in Malawi:health official
A cholera outbreak in Malawi's main commercial city has killed at least 11 people, a senior health official said on Wednesday.
Health officials have been on alert fearing that a cholera epidemic in neighbouring Zimbabwe could spread the disease to the southern African country and compound the problem.
Malawi's secretary for health Chris Kang'ombe said 248 cases have been reported since the outbreak last week in Lilongwe.
"We are providing water treatment in affected areas and are discouraging people from preparing food at funerals and buying cooked meals from vendors," he said.
BBC: Russia-Ukraine gas talks collapse
Talks to resolve a gas supply row between Ukraine and Russia have failed, raising fears of possible energy shortages across Europe.
Gazprom said gas supplies to Ukraine would be cut on Thursday but that Russia would do its best to guarantee supplies to Europe.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier said that Ukraine would block supplies to Europe if no deal was done.
Ukraine denies owing money to Gazprom, and says it has guaranteed gas transit.
Yahoo: Oil jumps 14 percent, products up
US crude oil ended 2008 up 14 percent a barrel in thin pre-holiday trade on Wednesday, tracking a jump in gasoline as a slowdown in domestic refinery activity sparked fears of tightening fuel supply this winter.
U.S. crude oil futures for February settled up $5.57 to $44.60 per barrel, but down 54 percent from the $95.98 on the last day in 2007.
London Brent settled up $5.44 at $45.59.
This year saw the record high prices in July above $147 a barrel crash to the year low of $32.40 on December 19 as the global recession dissolved world demand.
UNITED STATES
LA Times: Obama plans to campaign for economic stimulus package
President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to lead a full-scale marketing blitz to pass the massive new stimulus package that he says is needed to revive the slumping economy and put the nation on the course he laid out during his campaign.
Obama will move to Washington this weekend, checking into a hotel with his family. In the remaining weeks of the transition, and after he is sworn in, he will use the bully pulpit to make the case for passage of a stimulus package of up to $775 billion, an aide said.
Obama, now in Hawaii on vacation, may travel outside Washington after Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, while others in the new administration scatter across the country to explain in minute detail the scope and purpose of the stimulus plan, said David Axelrod, a senior advisor to the president-elect.
"We'll fan out, and this will be a public process," Axelrod said in an interview. "We'll make clear to people why we need to do what we're doing, why it's the size it is, what the individual component parts are, and why they are an important part of the equation in terms of short-term recovery."
Cleveland Plain Dealer: National City executives to get golden parachutes
National City Corp.'s top executives could get as much as $50 million in payouts thanks to closing today of the bank's $5.6 billion merger with PNC.
The payouts to National City's top 14 executives could total $49.5 million before taxes, according to filings made by PNC. Those payments had been thrown into question this year because PNC is buying National City with bailout money from the Treasury Department. The legislation that authorized the bailout forbids paying such "golden parachute" bonuses to officers of banks receiving the funds.
But National City did not receive the funds and apparently is not subject to those restrictions. PNC spokesman Brian Goerke said Tuesday that the parachute agreements "were existing obligations of National City, and PNC expects to abide by them." Executives who stay with PNC after the merger will not receive the payments.
MSNBC: Smoking ban leads to big drop in heart attacks
A smoking ban in one Colorado city led to a dramatic drop in heart attack hospitalizations within three years, a sign of just how serious a health threat secondhand smoke is, government researchers said Wednesday.
The study, the longest-running of its kind, showed the rate of hospitalized cases dropped 41 percent in the three years after the ban of workplace smoking in Pueblo, Colo., took effect. There was no such drop in two neighboring areas, and researchers believe it’s a clear sign the ban was responsible.
The study suggests that secondhand smoke may be a terrible and under-recognized cause of heart attack deaths in this country, said one of its authors, Terry Pechacek of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CNN: Cable tussle threatens favorite shows
Can you live without "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Hills"?
Some of you may have to, if Viacom can't reach a deal by midnight Wednesday that would keep Comedy Central, MTV, and its 18 other networks on Time Warner Cable systems, according to a report in The New York Times.
The conglomerate was expected to take out full-page ads in major newspapers today explaining how fans would suffer if Time Warner refuses to ante up in the new year.
***UPDATE***
Yahoo: Time Warner Cable and Viacom reach deal
Time Warner Cable Inc. said Wednesday it reached a deal with Viacom Inc. on carriage fees, avoiding a blackout of 19 cable channels including MTV and Comedy Central.
The two sides, citing disagreement over fee hikes, had threatened a damaging blackout at midnight Eastern time that would have cut off shows such as "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "The Colbert Report" to about 15.7 million subscribers.
Shortly after agreeing to extend a midnight deadline by an hour, Time Warner Cable spokesman Alex Dudley said the sides agreed on a new contract.
The handshake deal meant the channels will not go dark and a joint statement was expected within the hour, Dudley said.
Yahoo: Tenn. gov. promises more oversight of ash ponds
Tennessee's governor promised greater oversight of coal ash retention ponds Wednesday after viewing damage from a spill that released more than a billion gallons of ashy sludge.
Gov. Phil Bredesen said he had no complaints with the cleanup process by Tennessee Valley Authority, which operates the Kingston power plant where a pond burst last week and poured a mix of fly ash and water over 300 acres and into a river.
But Bredesen vowed state environmental regulators will be "looking over their shoulder."