International

Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:01:12 -0500
TOP STORIES as of 0900 HKT -- 18 January, 2009

OLMERT: GAZA CEASE-FIRE TO BEGIN AT 2 A.M.
Israel has declared a unilateral cease-fire in the fighting in
Gaza beginning at 2 a.m., Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
said. "We can say that the conditions have been brought about
that enable us to say that the aims that we laid down for the
operation have been completely achieved -- if not more than
that, " Olmert said. "Hamas has been dealt a very serious blow."

N. KOREA SAYS IT HAS 'WEAPONIZED' PLUTONIUM
Senior North Korean officials say the communist regime has
"weaponized" its stockpile of plutonium, according to a U.S.
scholar, in a move suggesting that North Korea may have
significantly hardened its stance on nuclear negotiations.

OBAMA RETRACES LINCOLN'S TRAIN RIDE
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama retraces the route taken by
President Abraham Lincoln in 1861, traveling by train from
Philadelphia to Washington Saturday ahead of Tuesday's
inauguration ceremony. Obama has cited Lincoln as an influence
and inspiration during his own journey to the White House.

DRIVER, BYSTANDER KILLED IN IRAQI BOMB BLAST
A bomb attached to a vehicle exploded in western Baghdad
Saturday, killing the car's driver and a bystander, an Interior
Ministry official said.

TSVANGIRAI 'GLAD TO BE BACK' IN ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, returned
to the country Saturday but vowed that he would not be rushed to
join an inclusive government.

GERMAN EMBASSY DAMAGED IN KABUL BLAST
Seven civilians are killed after a suicide bomb explodes near
the German embassy in Kabul, a government official says. Five
U.S. military personnel are also wounded in the blast, three of
them seriously, says a U.S. military spokesman.

TOP SAUDI CLERIC CONDONES CHILD MARRIAGE
The debate over the controversial practice of child marriage in
Saudi Arabia was pushed back into the spotlight this week, with
the kingdom's top cleric saying that it's OK for girls as young
as 10 to wed.

RUSSIA: GAS FLOW TO RESUME WITHIN DAYS
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is attending talks in
Moscow on Saturday to try to resolve the ongoing gas dispute,
according to Ukraine's official news agency, Ukrinform.
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BUSINESS

CITIGROUP TO SPLIT AFTER $8.3B LOSS
Citigroup has announced plans to split the company in two after
reporting a bigger than expected fourth quarter loss of more
than eight billion dollars.

KELLOGG RECALLS PRODUCTS AMID SALMONELLA SCARE
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 453 people
in 43 states and Canada have been infected with salmonella
Typhimurium.

BANK OF AMERICA GETS NEW BAILOUT PACKAGE
Bank of America will get another $20 billion from the U.S.
government's bailout fund, with federal guarantees for another
$118 billion in mortgage-backed securities on its balance
sheets, the Treasury Department announced early Friday.