IBT Staff Reporter

The preparations for the upcoming Presidential inauguration are undoubtedly very special.

GAZA - Israeli artillery shelled the Gaza Strip on Saturday, stepping up the offensive against Hamas militants in the Palestinian enclave as tanks and troops waited on the border for a possible ground offensive.

President-elect Barack Obama's transition team is putting the finishing touches on an economic recovery plan that could run from $675 billion to $775 billion.

Tiny diamonds sprinkled across North America suggest a swarm of comets hit the Earth around 13,000 years ago, kicking up enough disruption to send the planet into a cold spell and drive mammoths and other creatures into extinction, scientists reported on Friday.

A malfunction of some Microsoft Corp Zune music players was caused by an error in the way the device accounts for leap years, Microsoft said.

The ailing U.S. steel industry is pressing President-elect Barack Obama for a public works plan that could be worth $1 trillion over two years to boost flagging demand for U.S.-made steel, the New York Times reported in Friday's editions.

Factories in China and India joined much of Europe in slashing output and jobs at a record pace in December, another sign the biggest emerging markets were wilting under the recession gripping industrialized nations.

Everyone caught up in the scandal of accused Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff wants to know where the money is.

Chrysler LLC on Friday received an initial $4 billion emergency loan from the U.S. government, two days after the government completed a parallel payout to its larger rival General Motors Corp.

Israel's week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip is a violent sequel to a drive led by the US

RALEIGH, North Carolina - For videogame publishers the start of 2009 marks a new phase in gaming with the release of new titles no longer confined to the top holiday sale months but spread throughout the year.

Actor Will Smith, star of Hancock and Seven Pounds, was voted the top money-making movie star of 2008, dethroning Johnny Depp in an annual poll released on Friday of movie theater owners and film buyers.

WASHINGTON - A Muslim family that was ordered off an AirTran Airways flight on New Year's Day received an apology and refund on Friday from the airline, which said its decision to bar the passengers was necessary.

NSAWKAW, Ghana - Electors in the last constituency to vote in Ghana's presidential run-off delivered a further blow on Friday to the ruling party, which was already trailing narrowly in the election and boycotted the final ballot.

GAZA - Hamas's top leader warned Israel its army would be defeated if it invaded the Gaza Strip, while the United States said it envisioned a ceasefire with international monitoring that would ensure the Islamist group could not rearm.

WASHINGTON - Both President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden will huddle with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders on Monday to try to advance a huge economic stimulus bill that Obama hopes can be enacted quickly, despite Republican reservations.

John Travolta's teenage son has died in the Bahamas.

Buffalo Bills safety Ko Simpson was arrested early Thursday in his hometown of Rock Hill, S.C., and charged with hindering a police investigation.

Jett Travolta, 16, the teenage son of actor John Travolta died suddenly on Friday during a family vacation in the Bahamas, according to the family's lawyer.

Fleet, Hampshire UK - A British mixed race couple have become parents to a set of black and white twin girls for a second time.

Ford has officially announced that its high-performance Shelby GT500 Mustang, which is set to have an official entry at the Detroit Auto Show this month, is to be revealed ahead of its world debut at Motor City in a couple of weeks.

The NFL has granted an extension until 3:30 p.m. local time Friday to reach a virtual sellout their remaining 8,000 tickets Sunday's playoff game against Philadelphia, Viking team could get more time to avoid a TV blackout.

Dell is one of the many technology companies that are taking a long hard look at business operations with the poor global economy looming large, being among the first of the computer makers to see profits drop from the slowdown of computer sales.

Evidence has been uncovered that hints to the possibility that a comet hit earth more than 13000 years ago, just as the planet was emerging from an ice age, reported today in the journal science.

US manufacturing activity in December came in weaker-than-expected, falling to a 28-year low, making it the fifth straight month of decline and the lowest mark since June 1980.

The no-nonsense police captain, Bernie Hamilton, of the 1970s TV series Starsky and Hutch, has died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 80..

NEW YORK - Jack Black may have been schooled in rock, but now he'd like to sing at the Grand Ole Opry with wife Tanya Haden's family, who recently turned him on to bluegrass music.

Going through ones belongings after death can bring about all sorts of surprises; the relatives of Dr. Harold Carr were ones who received such surprise.

The Orange Bowl took the time Thursday to bestow Hall of Fame honors on the 25 men who founded a little winter gathering of ''football in the tropics'' 75 years ago.