Two senior Hamas terrorists killed in IAF strike  —  Senior Hamas terrorist Hussam Hamdan, who was in charge of Grad-type rocket launches into Beersheba and Ofakim, was killed in an IAF strike on Khan Yunis on Sunday afternoon.  —  Another senior Hamas terrorist, Muhammad Hilo, was also killed in the same airstrike.

Franken up 225 with recount complete; focus turns to court  —  The Supreme Court has yet to rule on Coleman's request to consider more wrongly rejected ballots.  —  DFLer Al Franken won an impressive share Saturday of what may be the last ballots tallied in the U.S. Senate recount …

Roland Burris, Harry Reid: D.C. face-off  —  Former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris and Senate Democratic leaders determined to block his seating in the U.S. Senate plan to sit down Wednesday in the U.S. Capitol for a face-to-face meeting.  —  Aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …

He should get tough with Israel.  —  In Search of the High Ground: In July, Obama got a bird's-eye view of the Holy Land with Livni (right) and Defense Minister Ehud Barak  —  From the magazine issue dated Jan 12, 2009  —  Jews worry for a living; their tragic history compels them to do so.

Charity homes built by Hollywood start to crumble  —  RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart.  —  Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers …

Rocket Statistics, 3 Jan 2009  —  Rocket Statistics  —  Today, over 950,000 Israelis live within range of rocket and mortar attacks.  —  There have been approximately 7,200 rockets (Grads, Qassams) and mortars launched at Israel since 2005.  —  During 2008, there have been 1755 mortars shells …

“I'm a little spooked”: Palestinian protests bring Gaza fighting to San Francisco  —  For nearly every day of the last week, San Francisco has seen street protests about the fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.  Hundreds of Palestinians, as well as left-wing activists organized by ANSWER …

The End of the Financial World as We Know It  —  AMERICANS enter the New Year in a strange new role: financial lunatics.  We've been viewed by the wider world with mistrust and suspicion on other matters, but on the subject of money even our harshest critics have been inclined to believe that we knew what we were doing.

As My Son Goes to War, I Am Fully Israeli At Last  —  “I just heard on the news that Gavriel's base has been shelled,” my wife, Sarah, said to me last Tuesday, referring to our 19-year-old son, a member of an Israeli army tank unit waiting on the Gaza border for the order to enter.

BBC names 11th - and youngest - Doctor Who  —  Matt Smith has been named as the actor who will take over from David Tennant in Doctor Who - making him the youngest actor to take on the role.  —  At 26, Smith is three years younger than Peter Davison when he signed up to play the fifth Doctor in 1981.

McAuliffe Declares Bid for Governor  —  Former Democratic National Committee chairman and McLean businessman Terry McAuliffe said yesterday that he has decided to run for Virginia governor.  —  In a three-minute video e-mailed to supporters yesterday afternoon, McAuliffe, 51 …