International

Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:02:07 -0500
TOP STORIES as of 0900 HKT -- 12 January, 2009

ISRAEL CALLS FOR PATIENCE AS DEATH TOLL NEARS 900
Israeli aircraft and troops are continuing their assault on
Gaza, despite an Israeli official's assessment that the
two-week-old operation may be in its final days.
Eight-hundred-ninety-eight people have been killed and 3,695
injured in Gaza since the start of fighting, Palestinian medical
sources said.

REPORT: U.S. REJECTED ISRAELI PLEA TO ATTACK IRAN
U.S. President George W. Bush rejected three requests in 2008
for permission and aid for a potential airstrike inside Iran,
according to the New York Times. Israel wanted bunker-busting
bombs, equipment to help refuel planes making flights into Iran,
and permission to fly over Iraq to reach the site of Iran's only
uranium enrichment plant, the report said.

FERRY CARRYING 250 CAPSIZES IN INDONESIA
A rescue operation is underway in eastern Indonesia on Sunday
after a passenger ferry capsized with about 250 people on board.

PRINCE HARRY APOLOGIZES FOR OFFENSIVE REMARKS
Videos purportedly shot by Britain's Prince Harry and including
offensive language prompted an official apology Saturday from
the prince and the royal family.

SAUDI PROFESSOR RELEASED FROM PRISON
An outspoken Saudi human rights advocate who was imprisoned
without charge for nearly eight months was freed this weekend,
according to a fellow human rights activist.

ZIMBABWE OPPOSITION: 11 BACKERS STILL MISSING
Zimbabwe's main opposition party has asked organizations such as
the United Nations to help find 11 supporters who were allegedly
abducted by government agents, a party spokesman said.

MILITIA KILLS RANGER IN CONGO NATIONAL PARK
A militia killed a ranger in a Democratic Republic of Congo park
where authorities are trying to protect endangered gorillas
threatened by civil war, the park said.

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BUSINESS

THIRD PERSON ARRESTED IN SATYAM SCANDAL
The chief financial officer of India's Satyam Computer Services
Ltd. was arrested Saturday, the third person taken into custody
in a scandal that began when the company's chairman admitted
inflating profits with "fictitious" assets and non-existent
cash.

RUSSIA, UKRAINE LOOK TO RESUME GAS FLOW
Russia and the European Union have agreed on how to control the
transit of natural gas through Ukraine to Europe, the Russian
news agency Interfax reported Saturday.

LLOYDS TSB IN U.S. SANCTIONS BREACH
British bank Lloyds TSB agrees to pay a $350 million penalty to
the U.S. authorities for illegal financial transfers that
violated sanctions.