Update 7am:  Stories Making Headlines Today

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS
    After days of airstrikes, Israeli ground strike increasingly
likely

    GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - With a shrinking number of targets
to hit from the air and top Hamas leaders deep in hiding, a ground
operation by Israel into Gaza seems all the more likely.
    Israeli troops are lining the Gaza border, assembling equipment,
cleaning weapons and scrubbing out tank barrels. An Israeli defense
official says their commanders have moved forward with preparations
for a ground operation.
    The government has approved the call-up of more than 9,000
reserve soldiers. Heavy rain clouds that could hinder ground forces
are expected to lift Thursday.
    In the meantime, Israel has continued its airstrikes on Gaza.
Early Thursday, huge explosions shook Gaza City as Israeli planes
bombed three government buildings and the parliament.
    In Israel, three civilians and a soldier have been killed by
rocket fire, which has reached deeper into Israel than ever.
    The U.N. estimates the number of dead is between 320-390 and the
number of injured at 1,500-1,900.

AFGHANISTAN
    20 Afghan police killed in Taliban ambush

    KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - An Afghan official says Taliban
militants have ambushed a group of Afghan police while they ate
lunch and killed 20 officers.
    Daud Ahmadi, the spokesman for Helmand province’s governor, says
militants also killed the mother of one of the policemen after she
pleaded with the insurgents to spare her son’s life. The Wednesday
attack came in a remote area of Helmand.
    A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, says two Taliban were
killed and four wounded during the ambush. Ahmadi says 32 police
were killed, but that number has not been confirmed by Afghan
officials.
    Ahmadi says the slain police were assigned as bodyguards for the
district chief of Musa Qala, a region filled with Taliban fighters.

THAILAND-NIGHTCLUB FIRE
    Dozens die in nightclub fire in Bangkok

    BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A two-story nightclub packed with
hundreds of well-heeled New Year’s revelers turned into a flaming
house of horrors in Thailand.
    Officials say at least 61 people died as the panicked crowd
stamped to escape the flames. More than 200 were injured, including
35 foreigners.
    Officials say victims died from burns, smoke inhalation and
injuries during the stampede from the club, which had only one door
for the public.
    The cause of the fire in a Bangkok entertainment district was
under investigation but several witnesses say a fireworks display
during the New Year’s countdown ignited the blaze.
    The Santika Club tended to attract an affluent crowd of young
Thais and foreigners.
    One eyewitness says he saw people pushing each other to get to
the front door as young girls were shoved away and crushed.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-GAS
    Russia’s Gazprom cuts all gas to Ukraine

    MOSCOW (AP) - Russia’s gas monopoly Gazprom says it has cut all
gas supplies to Ukraine after talks on a new supply deal failed.
    Gazprom spokesman Igor Volobuyev says the cuts began as planned
at 10 a.m. Thursday.
    A spokesman for Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz has confirmed a
steady drop in supplies.
    There are fears that a cutoff could lead to a replay of a
January 2006 gas crisis. Then, a similar dispute between Russia and
Ukraine briefly interrupted gas shipments to many European
countries. Ukraine controls the pipelines through which Russia
supplies most of its customers in Europe.

ILLINOIS GOVERNOR
    NEW: Officials work on ways to keep Burris from claiming seat

    CHICAGO (AP) - Democratic officials have spent their New Year’s
Eve reviewing procedures that haven’t been used in decades in
anticipation of a fight over President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated
Senate seat.
    Disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who stands accused of
trying to sell the seat, appointed Roland Burris to the post. Since
then, Burris has been trying to stake his claim on Capitol Hill in
both the Illinois Supreme Court and the court of public opinion.
    The former Illinois attorney general filed a motion in state
Supreme Court yesterday seeking to force the secretary of state to
certify Blagojevich’s appointment.
    He also made the rounds in the media, granting interview after
interview to argue that his appointment shouldn’t be tainted by the
corruption scandal that has engulfed Blagojevich.
    He plans to show up in Washington next week when new senators
are sworn in. Officials say Democrats are trying to figure out how
to keep him at bay until Blagojevich is forced from office.

WINTER WEATHER
    Bitter cold, snow and strong winds

    NEW YORK (AP) - Winter storm warnings and plummeting
temperatures are putting a chill on the arrival of 2009.
    Thousands of homes and businesses in the Midwest have no
electric lights for the holiday because of wind damage.
    Temperatures in the teens—with wind chills below zero—and
snow are are forecast for parts of the Northeast and New England.
    However, that’s almost mild compared to the upper Midwest, which
started the day with temperatures as low as 33 below zero at
Wahpeton, North Dakota, and 24 below at Brainerd, Minnesota.
    The National Weather Service has posted winter storm warnings
and advisories for parts of New England, upstate New York, northern
Ohio, northern Minnesota and North Dakota, and sections of Montana,
Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

MADOFF-ASSETS
    Madoff lists assets for SEC; agency mum on details

    NEW YORK (AP) - Bernard Madoff has given the Securities and
Exchange Commission a list of his personal assets. But those who
may have lost billions to his alleged Ponzi scheme will have to
wait to find out how much the disgraced Wall Street guru has.
    Madoff had until the end of 2008 to turn over a list of his
homes, stock holdings, bank accounts and other business interests.
    The list was also supposed to include the names and locations of
any bank or brokerage accounts holding whatever remains of his
clients’ money.
    The SEC hasn’t said what’s on the list and says there has been
no decision on whether to make any of it public.
    Any Madoff assets disclosed in the filing or unearthed by
investigators could be tapped to make restitution to victims of
what authorities say was a massive Ponzi scheme.
    Still, those assets would likely cover only a fraction of the
billions of dollars that investors entrusted to Madoff.

MADOFF STATUE
    NEW: Madoff’s stolen statue returned - with a ‘lesson’

    PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Thieves calling themselves “The
Educators” have returned a statue stolen from disgraced investment
guru Bernie Madoff. And they hope he’s learned his lesson.
    The Palm Beach Post reports that the $10,000 copper sculpture
turned up Wednesday near the country club Madoff (MAY’-dawf)
belonged to.
    A note attached read: “Bernie the Swindler, Lesson: Return
stolen property to rightful owners. Signed by - The Educators.“
    The statue was reported missing Dec. 22, about a week after the
Wall Street money manager was arrested on charges he bilked
investors out of more than $50 billion. His clients included major
banks, charities and retirees.
    Police are investigating the return of the statue, which did not
appear to be damaged.

COMSCORE-HOLIDAY SHOPPING
    Online sales fall 3 percent during holiday season

    NEW YORK (AP) - For the first time since it began keeping track
in 2001, comScore says online retail sales for the holiday season
have fallen.
    Online sales, which have regularly boasted double-digit growth,
tapered off by 3 percent in the 2008 holiday shopping season.
ComScore says they likely fell 4 percent in the fourth quarter.
    In contrast, comScore says online holiday sales rose about 19
percent in 2007 and more than 25 percent in 2006.
    The consumer behavior research firm says a shortened shopping
season and the economic squeeze kept people from pointing, clicking
and buying as much as they did in the past.
    The 4 percent drop in total online spending between Oct. 1 and
Dec. 28, just three days shy of the whole quarter, is the first
quarterly decline comScore has seen in e-commerce.
    Analysts agree the outlook for early 2009 is worse.

OBAMA-TEMPORARY HOME
    NEW: Obamas seek to get settled for start of school

    WASHINGTON (AP) - This weekend marks the arrival of the first
family-in-waiting in the nation’s capital as President-elect Barack
Obama, his wife and children settle into exclusive temporary digs
in Washington.
    The family will occupy a suite at the historic Hay-Adams hotel
near the White House after wrapping up their Hawaii vacation.
    Opened in 1928, the hotel’s name comes from two historical
figures who lived on the site. John Hay was the private assistant
to President Abraham Lincoln and later secretary of state. Henry
Adams was an author and descendant of Presidents John Adams and
John Quincy Adams.
    Despite weighty issues like the inauguration and the economic
stimulus package, the first order of business is the start of
school for Obama’s two daughters. Malia and Sasha begin classes
Monday at the private Sidwell Friends School.