Israel launches new incursion into Gaza

JERUSALEM, : Israel launched a new incursion into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday overshadowing a new peace push by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who was holding Jerusalem talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the time.

Rice had earlier met moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas who broke off all contacts with Israel on Sunday after a previous incursion killed more than 120 people, 22 of them children, and who responded to her call for a resumption of talks with a demand for a comprehensive ceasefire.

Israeli forces backed by helicopters clashed with Hamas gunmen after several tanks entered the Gaza Strip east of the city of Khan Yunis, witnesses said.

Hamas forces opened fire with small arms and mortars at the Israeli forces that entered southern Gaza near the Kissufim crossing between Israel and the Hamas-ruled territory, the witnesses said.

According to Palestinian security sources, Israeli troops were laying siege to a house of a member of the radical Islamic Jihad movement in the village of al-Karara, several hundred metres from the border.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.

The incursion came as Olmert held talks with Rice who had earlier called for Israel to be “very cognisant of the effects of its operations on innocent people”.

The US chief diplomat called on both Israel and the Palestinians to renew peace talks that were dealt a major blow by the deadly Israeli onslaught of the past week.

“We look forward to the resumption of negotiations as soon as possible,” Rice said after meeting Abbas.

She said President George Bush’s goal of resolving the decades-old conflict and inking a historic peace deal by the end of his term in January 2009 was still possible.

“I still believe that that can be done,” she told reporters.

Bush, too, said after meeting Jordan’s King Abdullah in Washington that he was still “optimistic” about the prospects for the peace talks, re-launched to great fanfare at a US conference in November after a seven-year freeze.

The US president urged the two sides to “step up” efforts to end the violence and reach a deal.

Abbas did not say when he might return to the negotiating table, but insisted that “the negotiations are necessary and we are committed to them.” Lead Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qorei told reporters talks will resume once Israel’s military operations in the Palestinian territories end.

Abbas called for a truce between Israel and the Palestinians, both in his West Bank powerbase and in the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled since June by the rival Hamas movement after the Islamists routed his forces.

“I insist on the necessity of installing a comprehensive truce in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank so that we can reach our goal of making 2008 a year of peace,” Abbas said.

But Hamas rejected the Palestinian president’s call for a reciprocal ceasefire, insisting the blame lay with Israel.

“We consider the statements of the Palestinian president about the truce an unbalanced call because the problem lies in the occupation, not in the Palestinian people,” its spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

The bloodshed continued on Tuesday, with Israeli raids killing two Palestinians in Gaza, from which militants fired three rockets, with one falling inside the Jewish state.

Rice reiterated that the rocket fire had to stop and called on Israel — which earned international condemnation for excessive use of force during the Gaza attacks — to spare innocent lives during its raids.

“The United States of course understands Israel’s right to defend itself, but Israel needs to be very cognizant of the effects of its operations on innocent people,” she said.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak warned that the strikes on Gaza would continue as long as militants fired rockets, and he placed the responsibility for the killing of civilians on Hamas.

“The operations will continue,” he said during a visit to northern Israel.

“To those who criticise us, our friends among us, I say that the responsibility lies with those who fire rockets.” Rice’s visit coincided with the publication of a Vanity Fair article claiming that she and Bush covertly worked to oust Hamas after it won 2006 parliamentary elections, breaking the decades-long hold on power of Abbas’s Fatah party.

Citing confidential documents, the magazine said the United States sought to arm a force led by Fatah loyalists to oust Hamas militants from power, but that the plan backfired.

“Instead of driving its enemies out of power, the US-backed Fatah fighters inadvertently provoked Hamas to seize total control of Gaza,” it said.

Secrecy surroundings Swayze cancer fight

According to the Enquirer, the Dirty Dancing star was reportedly diagnosed with the disease in January and immediately checked into Stanford University's cancer center in Palo Alto, California for a gastro-intestinal procedure.

Swayze, 55, is said to have undergone three doses of chemotherapy, which has helped shrink a tumor in his pancreas. But doctors are not optimistic they will kill the cancer.

Movie star Patrick Swayze is fighting for his life in a California hospital, if tabloid and internet reports are to be believed.

The tabloid the National Enquirer reports the Ghost star is dying of pancreatic cancer and has been given just five weeks to live if drastic chemotherapy treatment doesn't work.

But sources close to the actor/dancer insist the story is far from true, and Swayze is at work on a new movie in Los Angeles.

Reports suggest the star has lost more than 20 pounds over the last few weeks and has had to resort to a liquid diet, because he's struggling to keep down solid food.

A source tells the National Enquirer, "He was told he could have two more treatments, but his cancer was not responding. In short - they held out little hope for a cure."

Swayze's spokesperson has confirmed the actor was "home and happy" after the operation but has refused to comment on the nature of his illness.

And an insider on the set of his unnamed new film tells celebrity blogger Perez Hilton that Swayze appears to be in good health, stating, "Patrick has been at rehearsals for a new cheerleading movie at a Century City studio frequently... and he definitely does not look like he has five more weeks of life left?"

"I'm not sure of his medical condition, but, if he is gravely ill, he is hiding it very well."

Further calls to Swayze's representatives were not returned by the time WENN went to press.

Obama regain Lost Ground in Texas Caucus Results; Clinton position to Challenge

Though Hillary Clinton took Texas with the popular vote in the primaries, Barack Obama regained some lost ground by winning the state’s caucus, which accounts for one-third of the state’s delegates.

But the win is bittersweet, with the Clinton campaign crying foul, saying it might mount a legal challenge to the state’s caucus results. Clinton's camp is citing what it says are “hundreds of complains” they received accusing the Obama campaign of mischief.

Clinton officials say they have evidence that the Obama Campaign illegally obtained caucus packets in several precincts throughout the state. CNN is reporting that Clinton’s camp claims Obama locked her supporters out of several caucuses.

With Tuesday’s one-two-three punch win for Clinton, the New York senator is now firmly back in the race. Now more than ever Clinton’s camp is trying to paint Obama the villain by whatever means necessary, several political pundits are arguing.

Texas has a hybrid system where two-thirds of the state’s delegates come from primaries and one-third comes from a caucus. The split vote caused mass chaos throughout the state last night, the AP is reporting.

Battle of the Birds Goes To Baltimore

Melvin Mora had three hits and four RBI, with a double and home run coming off of starter Anthony Reyes as the Orioles beat the Cardinals 10-2. Reyes got hit pretty hard giving up four on six hit through two innings. Baltimore hitters continued to beat up on minor league pitching as the Orioles rapped out 16 hits.

Colby Rasmus brought his spring training average up to .300 with a 2 for 3 as Rasmus drove in both Cardinal runs. Rasmus is trying to make the jump from the AA Springfield to the big league club this year.

The Cardinals are 2-4 this spring. They have two games today, starting Mike Parisi against Washington in the opener and Adam Wainwright against the Marlins later in the day.

Diagnosed Cancer Patrick Swayze, known Weeks To Live

Swayze is best known for his roles in Dirty Dancing, as well as other films such as Ghost.

According to a report released today, Hollywood star Patrick Swayze has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Reports are that he has already gone through chemotherapy, and now unfortunately only has weeks to live.

The National Enquirer reported that 56-year-old Swayze has been diagnosed and was diagnosed in late January.

He has apparently been going through chemotherapy treatments at Stanford University’s advanced cancer center.

The hope for a cure is dimming by the day as the three rounds of chemotherapy he has gone through did not go very successfully.

The report stated that he has already lost 20 pounds in the last couple of weeks, and is only allowed a liquid diet.

He will apparently go through a few more treatments but things are not looking good to say the least.

According to the report, he has only 5 weeks to live.

Pancreatic cancer is a malignant tumor within the pancreatic gland.

Over 30,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with it each and every year, with few surviving.

This is one time when all you can do is hope for a miracle.

We must stress though that there has yet to be any confirmation of this from Swayze or anyone else, so we can only hope that for this one time, this report proves false.