AP - Hundreds of thousands of revelers rang in 2009 from frigid Times Square as the famous Waterford crystal ball dropped, signaling the end of a historic and troubled year that saw the election of the first black U.S. president and the worst economic crisis in decades.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suspected U.S. drone fired two missiles on Friday in Pakistan's South Waziristan region on the Afghan border, but there was no word on casualties, a Pakistani intelligence source and a resident said.

GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike killed a senior commander of Hamas's armed wing on Saturday while the Islamist group's leader warned the Israeli army, currently massing on the border, would be defeated if it invaded Gaza.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats are considering a major expansion of government-assisted health care insurance and unemployment benefits as part of a two-year economic recovery program, The New York Times reported in its Sunday editions.

AP - Asian stock markets rose strongly Monday, with benchmarks in Tokyo and Shanghai gaining more than 2 percent, as Wall Street's rally and stimulus plans in the U.S. and elsewhere buoyed investor hopes for 2009.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel pressed on with its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip for a fourth day on Tuesday despite new international calls for a ceasefire in a conflict in which more than 540 Palestinians have been killed.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is reportedly considering cash injections for scores of regional banks in an effort to encourage lending as the financial crisis creates havoc for companies and economies around the globe. A big cut in aluminum output from Alcoa Inc and bankruptcy protection filings by U.S. units of LyondellBasell, the world's third-largest petrochemical company, provided the latest evidence of the corporate struggle with the worst downturn in decades. [nN06446350]

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes bombed targets across the Gaza Strip on Thursday and tanks advanced on Palestinian guerrillas as U.S. backing for a truce proposal raised expectations of an end to the offensive.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel pushed ahead with its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday, ignoring a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire to the 14-day-old conflict.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. recession will probably be the longest since World War Two and could worsen without heavy government spending, according to a closely-watched survey of economists released on Saturday.

AFP - Tanks and warplanes pounded Gaza City before dawn on Sunday, hours after Israel warned it would escalate its war on Hamas targets, as the death toll in the 16-day-old conflict passed 850.

BEVERLY HILLS (Reuters) - Low-budget movies blew by their major studio rivals at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday as romance 'Slumdog Millionaire' won a leading four honors, including best drama to give it a push in the race for Oscars.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. Hillary Clinton is expected to win easy confirmation as U.S. secretary of state but will face questions about her husband's foreign business dealings when she appears before a congressional committee on Tuesday.

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli troops edged closer to the heart of Gaza City on Wednesday morning and international organizations expressed growing concern about the plight of children trapped in the offensive.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean nuclear envoys were set for a rare visit to North Korea Thursday aimed at advancing sputtering disarmament talks, days after it issued tough terms for ending its atomic ambitions.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp was rescued by the U.S. government on Friday through a $20 billion bailout and a guarantee for almost $100 billion of potential losses on toxic assets to cushion the blow from a deteriorating balance sheet at Merrill Lynch & Co, its recently acquired brokerage.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five deaths have been linked to an outbreak of Salmonella food poisoning linked to peanut butter, but the strain involved is not particularly virulent, U.S. health officials said on Friday.

AP - Salvage crews hoisted a battle-scarred US Airways jetliner from the Hudson River and onto a barge late Saturday, three days after the pilot of the crippled aircraft made what he told investigators was a split-second decision to attempt a water landing to avoid a possible 'catastrophic' crash in a populated neighborhood.

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Britain is set to unveil its second bank rescue plan on Monday and the incoming U.S. administration said it will make its bailout funds work harder to get credit flowing again to cash-starved consumers and companies.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama was poised to make history on Tuesday as America's first black president, riding the optimism of millions of people into power and inheriting a recession and two wars that will test his skills.

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Hours after taking office on Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama ordered military prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals to ask for a 120-day halt in all pending cases.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of slain President John F. Kennedy, on Thursday withdrew her bid to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton.

AP - Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand emerged as a leading contender Thursday night as New York Gov. David Paterson closed in on a decision to fill the state's vacant Senate seat, according to party officials monitoring events in the wake of Caroline Kennedy's abrupt withdrawal from consideration.

AFP - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underwent heart bypass surgery Saturday in an operation that raises questions about his political future.

AP - A Kentucky high school football coach charged in the death of a player who collapsed at practice says he is heartbroken and that part of his life has been taken away.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. firms are experiencing the worst business conditions in 27 years as the year-long recession worsens, a survey showed on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to try to build momentum for an $825 billion package he says is urgently needed to keep the U.S. economy from sinking into an even deeper recession.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's $825 billion package to stem the U.S. recession headed toward anticipated passage on Wednesday in a sharply divided House of Representatives.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Republican Party insiders pick a new leader on Friday, he will have to be more than just a nuts-and-bolts manager by rallying the faithful after two disastrous elections that transformed U.S. politics.

(Reuters) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo may demand the return of $4 billion in bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch & Co just before it was acquired by Bank of America Corp, Bloomberg said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis voted behind barbed wire and rings of police on Saturday in an election that tested the war-battered country's fragile security gains and which may ease lingering sectarian resentment still fuelling violence.