Week in the News

Too much blood, in Gaza, where civilians died by the hundreds as Israel and Hamas fought on.

Too little money all over, as the world economy creaked and Barack Obama called for an urgent stimulus in the U.S.

Roland Burris was hounded down the steps of the U.S. Capitol — but may be in as Illinois’ junior senator. Sanjay Gupta got the call to be surgeon general. Leon Panetta is tapped to head the CIA — and the CIA claims two big Al Qaeda kills in Pakistan.

This hour, On Point: We go behind the headlines of the first week of 2009.

You can join the conversation. Is Obama setting up to fix this economy? Do you see a new day coming in Washington? In Gaza? Tell us what you think.Guests:

From Washington we're joined by David Ignatius, associate editor and columnist at The Washington Post and co-moderator, with Fareed Zakaria, of the PostGlobal blog. His lastest column, "A Surprise for Langley," looks at Obama's pick of Leon Panetta for CIA director. He's also the author of six novels, most recently, “The Increment,” coming out in May.

Also from Washington is Margaret Talev, White House correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers. She also reported on the Panetta pick this week.

And from Hanover, New Hampshire, is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.