Obama: Gitmo Likely Won't Close in His First 100 Days  —  Closing Guantanamo Bay More Difficult Than People Realize, President-Elect Says  —  President-elect Barack Obama said this weekend that he does not expect to close Guantanamo Bay in his first 100 days in office.

A Gaza War Full of Traps and Trickery  —  JERUSALEM — The grinding urban battle unfolding in the densely populated Gaza Strip is a war of new tactics, quick adaptation and lethal tricks.  —  Hamas, with training from Iran and Hezbollah, has used the last two years to turn Gaza into a deadly maze …

An Early Drubbing For Obama  —  It was not lost on anyone that the president-elect of the United States, riding the crest of his popularity, and the Democratic leadership of the U.S. Senate were outsmarted last week by a state politician who won his last election almost 20 years ago.

Notes From the Chairman  —  Once upon a couple of weeks ago ...  I'm in a crush in a Dublin pub around New Year's.  Glasses clinking clicking, clashing crashing in Gaelic revelry: swinging doors, sweethearts falling in and out of the season's blessings, family feuds subsumed or resumed.

Revealed: the environmental impact of Google searches  —  Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross says that performing two Google searches uses up as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea  —  Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount …

Vandals deface three local synagogues  —  Vandals spray-painted the words “Death to Israel” on two synagogues and a Jewish school early Saturday in three separate incidents police say could be linked and are being investigated as hate crimes.  —  In each case, the vandals — at times donning masks …

Public Servant's Private Stint at Issue  —  WASHINGTON — Chiquita was facing the prospect of federal charges for paying protection money to Colombian terrorists to safeguard its banana crops, and the company needed help.  It turned to Eric H. Holder Jr., an elite Washington lawyer well versed in the ways of the Justice Department.

Analysis: GOP urging restraint in stimulus debate  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Out of power, Republicans appear to be retreating to familiar old ground.  They're becoming deficit hawks again.  —  GOP lawmakers didn't seem to mind enjoying the fruits of government largesse for the past eight years …

DATE OF PUBLICATION: … SYNOPSIS:  —  The Israeli-Hamas War, and there is little else that it can be called, has now lasted two weeks.  Israeli jets have flown some 800 strike sorties, and the IDF has pushed deep into Gaza.  Israel also continues to report tactical gains.