CNN 2009-01-13

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Good morning from the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Reggie Aqui. Here's what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

We begin with President Bush who gave what would likely be the last news conference of his presidency¹ today. Bush spent time thanking members of the media for their work during his two terms. The president also talked about the possibility of requesting the rest of the bailout money on president-elect Barack Obama's behalf.

"I told him that if he felt that he needed the 350 billion, I would be willing to ask for it. If he feels like it needed to happen on my watch. The best course of action, of course, is to convince enough members of the senate to vote positively³ for the request, eh, and, you know, that's all I can share with because that's all I know. "

Now we're gonna turn to a problem that the president-elect will then hear: the latest developments in the Middle East. That's where Israel continues to launch a new round of air strikes in Gaza that despite a UN call for an immediate⁴ ceasefire. The Israeli military says it did pause its assault to allow residents to pick up humanitarian⁵ supplies. Palestinian medical sources say more than 900 people have been killed since the Israeli offensive began.

Russian and natural gas should begin flowing again in Europe soon. Russia says it will resume deliveries after Ukraine dropped added conditions to an EU-brokered deal to monitor the pipelines⁶. But the dispute has left parts of the Balkans without heat during a bitterly cold winter.

Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff could find out today if he's going to be moved to a jail cell. A judge will decide if his bail² will be revoked⁷ for allegedly trying to hide some of his wealth. Madoff is currently under house arrest in his apartment in New York. He's being investigated for allegedly running a 50-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

That's what's happening in the news right now. Please stick with us here at cnn.com and cnn.com/live for more of these stories and your updates throughout the day.