Update 6:20am:  Stories Making Headlines Right Now

NY SENATE SEAT
    Aide: Kirsten Gillibrand picked as next NY senator

Democratic congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand
is the New York governor’s pick to fill Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton’s vacate Senate seat.
    An aide to the governor tells The Associated Press that the
42-year-old Gillibrand will be named by Gov. David Paterson on
Friday. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the
announcement has not been made.
    Gillibrand (JIL’-uh-brand) was a dark horse, lacking the name
recognition of Caroline Kennedy, who withdrew her candidacy, or
even the seniority of other New York representatives vying for the
job.
    But she is a proven vote-getter in her sprawling eastern New
York district. She picked off an entrenched Republican incumbent in
2006 and cruised to re-election last year.

OBAMA-NOMINEES
    UPDATE: Senate confirms two more Cabinet members; Holder held
over

The Senate has unanimously confirmed two more
members of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet.
    Senators late Thursday elevated New York City Housing
Commissioner Shaun Donovan to the helm of the Department of Housing
and Urban Development, and they agreed to put former Illinois Cong.
Ray LaHood, a Republican, atop the Transportation Department.
    The confirmations fill nine of 15 Cabinet positions. Obama’s
nominee for treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner (GYT’-nur), was
approved by a Senate panel today and is expected to receive a vote
by the full Senate Monday.
    But Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee want Eric
Holder’s nomination hearing for attorney general pushed back to
Tuesday.
    Also confirmed Thursday night were Susan Rice as U.N. ambassador
and Mary Schapiro as Securities and Exchange commissioner.

OBAMA-ECONOMY
    UPDATE: Sparring over the economic recovery plan; meetings
coming

President Barack Obama’s recovery plan is
advancing in Congress over the persistent opposition of
Republicans, who want deeper tax cuts.
    The Democratic measure is expected to costs at least $825
billion. Republicans in both the House and Senate are developing
alternatives, arguing there’s no reliable estimate of the impact
the Democratic plan would have on jobs.
    House Republican leader John Boehner (BAY’-nur) says
alternatives backed by Republicans offer “fast-acting tax relief,
not slow-moving and wasteful government spending.“ Boehner says
they’ve set up a meeting with the president next week to discuss
their ideas.
    Obama and top Democrats and Republicans from the House and
Senate also plan to meet today.
    Meanwhile, Democrats pushed $275 billion in tax cuts through the
House Ways and Means Committee Thursday. That’s an important
component of the total package, which could be ready for a vote in
the full House next week. Democratic leaders have promised it will
be ready for Obama’s signature by mid-February.

WORLD MARKETS
    NEW: World markets retreat amid growing corporate woes

Grim news about major companies like Microsoft
and news that Britain had fallen into recession sent international
stock markets sliding today.
    Every major market in Asia retreated, with Japan’s benchmark
tumbling almost 4 percent. European markets fell in early trading.
    With Wall Street futures falling, U.S. markets were poised to
open lower.
    In the U.S., investors were stunned by news software giant
Microsoft Corp. was slashing 5,000 jobs - the first mass layoffs in
its 34-year history. Microsoft suffered an 11 percent drop in
profit last quarter.
    Adding to the gloom, U.S. unemployment and housing data was
worse than expected and pointed to further deterioration in the
world’s largest economy.

MINNESOTA SENATE
    Franken’s motion to dismiss recount suit rejected

A three-judge panel in Minnesota’s
contested Senate election has denied Democrat Al Franken’s motion
to dismiss his opponent’s recount lawsuit.
    Republican Norm Coleman is suing over a recount that ended with
Franken up by 225 votes and the decision clears a path for the case
to go to trial Monday.
    The judges have rejected Franken’s argument that their review
should be confined to determining if the recount was mathematically
correct, saying the court has jurisdiction to determine whether
votes were legally cast.
    Even though the trial will move forward, the judges aren’t
necessarily validating allegations made by Republican Norm Coleman.
The judges say their decision comes regardless of “whether or not
the plaintiff can prove the facts alleged.“
    Coleman’s lawyer calls it a “stinging defeat” for Franken.

PIRACY
    US admiral: Pact nears for Somali pirate trials
International negotiators are
nearing an accord to hold trials for captured Somali pirates and
jail them outside their homeland.
    The head of a new U.S.-led anti-pirate task force said Friday
the deal could be reached in weeks. It would provide a broad legal
framework to address the growing problem of piracy off the coast of
lawless Somalia.
    Rear Adm. Terence McKnight says the pirates would face justice
in the region.
    He would not disclose the possible countries for the trials.
Somalia has been without a functioning government for nearly 20
years.
    The U.S. Navy began special anti-piracy patrols last week. The
United States hopes more than a dozen other nations will eventually
join the task force.
   

STEM CELLS
    US approves 1st stem cell study for spinal injury

It could be a major step forward for stem cell
research when a U.S. biotech company begins what it says is the
world’s first study of a treatment based on human embryonic stem
cells.
    The long-awaited project aimed at spinal cord injury will begin
this summer after the California company gained federal permission
this week to use embryonic cells to inject eight to 10 patients.
    Dr. Thomas Okarma, president and CEO of Geron, says the patients
will be paraplegics who can use their arms but can’t walk. They
will receive a single injection within two weeks of their injury.
    The study is aimed at testing the safety of the procedure, but
doctors will also look for signs of improvement in patients.
    Embryonic stem cell research in the United States has had a
contentious history and the debate has long been in the political
arena as well as the lab.

NORTH KOREA-KIM JONG IL
    North Korea’s Kim Jong Il meets with Chinese official

Chinese state media is reporting the first known
meeting between Kim Jong Il and a foreign dignitary since the
reclusive North Korean leader reportedly fell ill last August.
    The official Xinhua (shin-wah) News Agency report says Kim met
in Pyongyang today with the head of the liaison office of China’s
ruling Communist Party.
    South Korean and U.S. officials say the 66-year-old Kim is
recovering from a stroke he suffered in August. North Korea,
however, denies Kim has been ill. There has been a steady stream of
photos since October showing Kim touring the country.
    Xinhua did not immediately give details of the meeting.
    China remains communist North Korea’s only major ally, and the
two countries are celebrating the 60th anniversary of their
alliance.

HOMELESS MAN BURNED
    LAPD arrests suspect in vagrant’s burning death

Los Angeles Police have arrested a suspect in
the death of a homeless man who was doused with flammable liquid
and set ablaze last year.
    Police say witnesses and DNA evidence collected at the scene led
to Benjamin Martin.
    Deputy Chief Charlie Beck says the motive was apparently a
“straight-up personal dislike and a little bit of crazy.“
    Witnesses tell police they saw the suspect chase 55-year-old
John McGraham, throw a liquid at him and flee. McGraham suffered
burns on over 90 percent of his body and died at a hospital.
    Witnesses described McGraham as a fixture on the Los Angeles
block who befriended neighbors and received regular visits from his
family.
    Law enforcement officials tell the Los Angeles Times the suspect
was a barber in the area who held a grudge against the homeless.

NATIVE MILITIA
    Army cuts off pay for WWII Alaska militia veterans

The Army has decided to cut off
retirement pay for veterans of a largely Native militia formed to
guard the territory of Alaska from the threat of Japanese attack
during World War II.
    A state veterans officer says the change means 26 surviving
members of the Alaska Territorial Guard, who are mostly in their
80s and long retired, will lose as much as $557 in monthly
retirement pay come February 1st.
    Alaska’s Senators are asking President Barack Obama to step in.
    The Army says it has been misinterpreting a law that qualifies
time served in the unpaid guard as active federal service. Members
will still be entitled to military benefits, including medical
benefits.

MONKEY NUMBERS
    Monkey business no joke at Santa Ana Zoo

Monkey business usually has to do with
something funny going on, but the small and popular zoo in Santa
Ana, Calif. is dead serious about making more of it.
    City pioneer J.E. Prentice, nicknamed the “Monkey Man” because
of his love of primates, in 1949 gifted the city 12 acres for the
zoo, but only on the condition the primate population didn’t slip
below 50.
    Lately, however, the monkeys haven’t been cooperating.
    Several times in recent months, the monkey population dipped
below 50, and Joseph Powell II, Prentice’s great-nephew, has
threatened to reclaim the land.
    Zoo officials say it’s not that easy. Interim director Kent
Yamaguchi says “You can’t just go to Monkeys-R-Us.“
    City officials say they’ll set a new goal of 55 monkeys to stay
in compliance.