The plan reflects a U.S.-led effort to seek out a more reliable alternative to the route from Pakistan through the strategic Khyber Pass as the military mission grows.
Israel launched further air strikes against Hamas targets and ruled out an immediate cease-fire. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the attack ?the first of several stages.?
AP - Defying U.S. Senate leaders and his own state's lawmakers, Gov. Rod Blagojevich was expected Tuesday to appoint a Senate replacement for President-elect Barack Obama despite federal charges that he tried to auction off the seat to the highest bidder.
AP - President George W. Bush and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas agreed in a telephone conversation Tuesday that if any new cease-fire agreement is to be effective in the Mideast, "it must be respected by Hamas," the White House said.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich today is expected to name former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate, CNN confirms. Burris' appointment would fill President-elect Barack Obama's seat. Democratic leaders in the Senate have warned that they would reject any Senate pick made by Blagojevich, who faces criminal charges.
An Israeli patrol boat struck a boat carrying doctors and supplies to Gaza early today in the Mediterranean Sea, witnesses and Israeli officials said. CNN correspondent Karl Penhaul was aboard the 60-foot Dignity when the boats collided. It was "very severely rammed" by the Israeli boat, Penhaul said. Also on the Dignity were several human rights activists, including former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney.
Israel bombed a Hamas government compound early today, leveling at least three structures, including the foreign ministry building, eyewitnesses and Hamas security sources told CNN. Airstrikes have killed more than 375 Palestinians, most of them Hamas militants, Palestinian medical sources said.
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