International

Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 05:02:08 -0500
TOP STORIES as of 1000 GMT -- 05 January, 2009

ISRAEL POUNDS GAZA AS HAMAS ROCKET FIRE CONTINUES
Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel persists despite a now
10-day campaign of Israeli airstrikes and two nights of ground
combat in northern Gaza.

DOCTOR IN GAZA: PATIENTS 'LYING EVERYWHERE'
Gaza's main hospital, already overloaded with Palestinians
wounded in the week-long Israeli air assault, has reached
critical mass, according to a Norwegian doctor volunteering at
Shifa Hospital.

THAI CLUB OWNER CHARGED OVER DEADLY FIRE
Thai police charge a Bangkok nightclub owner in connection with
a New Year's Eve fire that claimed the lives of at least 64
people, police said.

INDIA HANDS MUMBAI ATTACKS FILE TO PAKISTAN
India says it has handed evidence it says links the November
massacre in Mumbai to "elements in Pakistan" over to Pakistani
government officials.

EX-COMIC FRANKEN SET TO WIN U.S. SENATE RACE
An election board is expected to announce on Monday that
Democrat Al Franken has defeated Republican incumbent Norm
Coleman in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race, state officials say.

RICHARDSON HANDS OBAMA CABINET VACANCY
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has a Cabinet seat to fill
after New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced he was
withdrawing his nomination to be commerce secretary.

10-YEAR-OLD GIRL KILLED IN INDONESIA QUAKE
A 10-year-old girl was killed and 35 other people wounded in a
major earthquake near the north coast of West Papua, Indonesia,
government officials said.

EUROPEAN MARKETS FOLLOW ASIA HIGHER
Major markets in Europe and Asia open higher at the start of the
first full trading week of 2009.

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BUSINESS

WALL STREET BRACES FOR BAD NEWS
Wall Street opens Monday to start the first full week of trading
after a classic holiday rally on Friday. But the weeks ahead
will prove the true test, as market pros return to digest a
barrage of bad economic news and corporate profit warnings.

GAZPROM FILES LAWSUIT OVER GAS DISPUTE
Russian energy giant Gazprom, in the midst of a standoff with
Ukraine over payments for gas, has filed a lawsuit to stop what
it claims is illegal siphoning, chief executive Alexey Miller,
pictured, says.

AUSTRIA TAKES OVER BANK HIT BY MADOFF CASE
The Austrian government has taken control of a private bank with
significant exposure to the alleged fraud by Bernard Madoff.
Austria's market regulator, the FMA, installed a supervisor to
take control of Bank Medici, saying the move would address the
danger that the bank would not be able to pay its creditors.