Attack on Mumbai - Commandos storm Jewish center

Gunfire erupted on Friday when commandos began an operation to free Israelis held by suspected Islamist gunmen in Mumbai, while guests were also being evacuated from a luxury hotel in India's financial heart, witnesses said.

Heavily armed Indian commandos, their faces covered by balaclavas, rappelled from helicopters onto the roof of a Jewish center in what television reports said was an assault by the paramilitary National Security Guard to flush out the militants. The Jewish center was one of three pockets in Mumbai where Indian forces were battling die-hard militants more than 24 hours after brazen, coordinated attacks killed at least 121 people.

A Reuters witness said troops fired into the Jewish center, apparently to provide cover, as commandos made at least three sorties and took up positions on the roof. The building is in a crowded part of the city, making a frontal assault difficult.

Not far away, another Reuters witness said hotel guests including foreigners were being evacuated from the besieged Trident-Oberoi Hotel, one of two luxury hotels where police said militants were still holed up with an unknown number of hostages. Read the full coverage here

Dating Disasters : Britney Spears Opens Up

It's all work for everybody whether its US president and is no play for Britney Spears as she prepares for the release of her new album, Circus. "I feel like an old person now," she says in Rolling Stone's next issue, out Friday. "I do! I go to bed at, like, 9:30 every night, and I don't go out or anything."

And when she does find time to go on a date, Spears says the experience makes her wish she had just stayed home. "Right when we got there, we just knew it was just bad," Spears tells Rolling Stone of one recent bad date. "He looked like an older version of Harry Potter, but skinnier. … So I had to get dessert first.

"And the other date I had, the guy was really, really tall and a lot older. … We're trying to ask him questions, like, 'OK, you're into martial arts, so what kind of martial arts are you into?' And he was like, 'Oh, all kinds.' "

So instead of partying and dating, Spears is focusing on promoting Circus, which comes out Dec. 2 – her 27th birthday – with a live performance that day in New York City on Good Morning America. Her first single, "Womanizer," has been slowly climbing the charts, and Spears debuted the album’s title track Tuesday on Elvis Duran’s Z100 morning show in New York City. Click here for the complete article

Osama Bin Laden's driver sent Yemen to finish final sentence

An ex-driver for Al-Qaida's head Osama bin Laden was transferred from Guantanamo Bay to his homeland of Yemen to serve out the remaining 32 days of his sentence, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Salim Hamdan, the first man to go before a U.S. war crimes trial since the end of World War II, was flown from the U.S. Navy base in Cuba to Yemen.

Hamdan was convicted on Aug. 6 of providing material support to terrorism, and the military said it could keep him locked up indefinitely if it considered him to be a continued threat. Instead, he was sent home early. A Pentagon official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said the decision was made by the White House.

Hamdan was sentenced at the war-crimes trial to 5 1/2 years in prison. Being credited with five years and one month for time already served means his sentence ends on Dec. 27, according to the Pentagon. "As part of a transfer agreement with the United States, the remainder of Hamdan's sentence will be served in Yemen," the Defense Department said in a statement.

Hamdan's Pentagon-appointed attorney, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, told The Associated Press that he was surprised to learn the U.S. was transferring Hamdan to Yemen so soon. Read exact news here

Oil steady near 22 months low in Asia

Oil prices were steady near 22-month lows Wednesday in Asia as investors paused to examine the extent of global economic weakness, which has sent crude down more than 60 percent in four months.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery was up 8 cents to $54.47 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore. The contract Tuesday fell 56 cents to settle at $54.39, the lowest since January 2007. "Market sentiment is still bearish, but not as bearish as a week ago," said Clarence Chu, a trader with market maker Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. "Volatility has come down and the market is consolidating a bit."

Stock markets have served for the past few months as a barometer of investor perceptions about the health of the global economy. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.8 percent Tuesday as Hewlett-Packard Co. said fourth quarter and 2009 results will exceed analyst expectations.

Most Asian stocks, however, fell Wednesday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei index fell 0.7 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.5 percent and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index slid 1.9 percent. Complete story here

Officially Japan's Economy in Recession

Japan, the world's second-biggest economic nation, has fallen into recession, the government said Monday. The country's gross domestic product contracted at an annual rate of 0.4 percent from July to September, marking the second consecutive quarter of negative growth -- the technical definition of a recession. Japan's previous recession was in 2001, after the collapse of the dot-com bubble in the United States.

Japan's economy minister warned that the situation could worsen: Collapsing sales of Japanese goods in the United States and Europe amid the global downturn threaten to make the country's export-dependent economy even weaker in coming months.

"Downside risks to the economy are growing further, and Japan is in a very serious situation," Kaoru Yosano said at a news conference. Complete article here.

James Bond, Breaking Record, Topped Box Office

James Bond brushed off some lackluster reviews to sell an estimated $70.4 million in tickets at North American theaters, setting an opening-weekend record for this 46-year-old film franchise.

“Quantum of Solace,” starring Daniel Craig as 007, arrived in the United States unusually late; MGM and Sony Pictures released it overseas in late October. The move may have contributed to strong domestic sales. By withholding the hotly anticipated picture from fans in the world’s largest movie market, the studios stoked an online frenzy.

The movie’s global cumulative gross through Sunday was $322 million, according to Sony. “It’s an extraordinary opening that speaks to how much audiences have embraced Daniel Craig as Bond,” said Rory Bruer, Sony’s president for domestic distribution.

The stronger-than-anticipated opening is a relief to the two studios because of the picture’s outsize cost. The combined production and marketing budgets are estimated at about $400 million, although Sony places the number lower because of tax credits. MGM in particular was counting on a strong opening; a hit of this size helps shore up its financial footing. Read full story here

Read new public website of Obama

Barack Obama had a formidable online presence during his quest for the White House, and he is once again turning to the Internet to communicate with the American public as president-elect.

Within 24 hours of last week's historic vote, his transition team rolled out change.gov, a Web site that promises to be "your source for the latest news, events and announcements so that you can follow the setting up of the Obama administration." The site is still a little thin on content, but there's a blog, a newsroom and a countdown to the January 20 inauguration.

Visitors can fill out a form to share their stories about what the election meant to them, or they can give their vision of an Obama presidency. They can even apply for a job. The Web site is an extension of Obama's online strategy during the campaign. As a candidate, he had four times as many friends as his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, on MySpace.com. Obama had almost 3 million supporters on Facebook and put together a massive database of e-mail addresses -- some 10 million. Obama even announced Sen. Joe Biden as his choice for vice president in a text message to supporters....Click to read full post

India wrap-up border-gavaskar triangular series, beat Australia

India survived a valiant fightback from Australia to win a thrilling second Commonwealth Bank final by nine runs and claim the series 2-0.

Irfan Pathan took two wickets in the final over with Australia needing 13 to win in Brisbane, after a half-century from James Hopes had inspired the hosts' fightback. Chasing 259 after Sachin Tendulkar posted a classy 91, Australia struggled to recover from the loss of Adam Gilchrist, who scored two in his final international innings, and skipper Ricky Ponting for one.

Matthew Hayden (55) and the middle order provided some resistance to set up a nailbiting finish but the India bowlers skittled the tail to clinch victory. After his brilliant innings of 117 provided the platform for India's victory in Sydney, Tendulkar struck 91 before being superbly caught by Ricky Ponting off the bowling of Michael Clarke. Yuvraj Singh made a quickfire 38 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni 36, although the tourists would have been disappointed that they did not record a bigger score having been well set at 205 for three with just over 10 overs remaining.

Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat but India struggled to get going initially because of some tight bowling from the Australians. Having been dropped by Ricky Ponting early on, however, Tendulkar soon got into his stride by punching Stuart Clark through mid-on for four before clubbing another off the back foot through the same area. The 'Little Master' was beginning to look in the mood and lifted Mitchell Johnson over the slip cordon to the fence before repeating the dose with a straight drive in the left-arm seamer's following over. Tendulkar brought up a 70-ball half century with a single off Clark before steering another boundary off Johnson.....Read more here

Thousands protest gay-marriage ban in Los Angeles

Outside the gates of a Mormon temple, Kai Cross joined more than 2,000 gay-rights advocates in a chorus of criticism of the church's role in a new statewide ban on same-sex marriage.

Once a devout Mormon who graduated from Brigham Young University, the 41-year-old Cross was disowned by his family and his church after he was outed as a gay man in 2001.

"They are on the losing side of history," Cross said Thursday of the church's opposition to gay marriage. Cross and other protesters blame leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for encouraging Mormons to funnel millions of dollars into television ads and mailings in favor of Proposition 8.

The ballot measure passed Tuesday, which was sponsored by a coalition of religious and social conservative groups, amends the California Constitution to define marriage as a heterosexual act. It overides a state Supreme Court ruling that briefly gave same-sex couples the right to wed.

The protest came amid questions about whether attempts to overturn the prohibition can succeed and whether the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed in California over the past four months are in any danger.

For Cody Krebs, 27, four months was not enough time to fulfill his "intense hope" to marry one day; he and his boyfriend have been together for little more than a year, so they aren't ready to wed.

On Thursday, Krebs dodged eggs hurled at protesters from an apartment building. He said he'd seen worse growing up in Salt Lake City.

"It's important to come out like this because it gets the gay community into the public eye," Krebs said. "I feel like this has started a lot of conversations that had to get started."

The demonstration began outside the temple in the Westwood section of Los Angeles and noisily spilled through the western side of the city, with chants of "Separate church and state" and "What do we want? Equal rights." Some protesters waved signs saying "No on H8" or "I didn't vote against your marriage," and many equated the issue with the civil rights struggle. Read more here

Illinois hopes 'Obama buzz' will boost tourism

Tourism officials in Illinois say they expect a boost from Barack Obama's election, and they're doing what they can to capitalize on the Obama buzz.

A Chicago tourism Web site invites travel-planners to "experience the city the Obamas enjoy." The Illinois Bureau of Tourism plans to launch a three-day getaway featuring Obama sites. And in Springfield, tour guides at the Old State Capitol may get new scripts.

Catherine Williams volunteers as a Chicago Greeter for Chicago's tourism office. She leads walking tours and gets visitors as close to the Obamas' Hyde Park home as the Secret Service will allow.

A hand-lettered sign in one Chicago bookstore window congratulates "longtime customer" Obama. A nearby restaurant has sold 3,000 T-shirts that read "Obama Eats Here." For more click here