The Earlybird: Today's headlines

No Mideast peace deal, Hatch wants a pardon for Clinton and the Supreme Court gets back to work. Still Searching For A Deal

• Israel's government has confirmed that it "systematically" targets and kills "Palestinians deemed to be security threats," the Washington Post reports.
• Speaking at the Israel Policy Forum Gala Dinner on Sunday, President Clinton said that a Mideast peace agreement "was highly unlikely on his watch," the New York Times reports. Clinton said he supports "a sovereign and viable Palestinian state" but also said that "Israel's 'security requirements' and 'demographic realities' needed to be accommodated."
• The Palestinian Authority has "rejected President Clinton's proposals" for a peace deal, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, Israel has "accepted" Clinton's "ideas for a peace deal as a basis for negotiations," Reuters reports.

• The U.S. Supreme Court returns to work today, its first day back since the election ended, and "its conservative majority has the opportunity to push the law to the right on several fronts before the incoming George W. Bush administration has a chance to pursue a legal agenda," the Los Angeles Times reports.
• The Court will hear two cases about when it is legal to use a defendant's prior criminal convictions, the Washington Post reports.

• Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, suggested on a talk show Sunday that President Clinton should be pardoned after he leaves office, the Washington Post reports.
• Clinton delivered the sermon at Washington's Foundry United Methodist Church on Sunday, reflecting on his eight years in office and as a member of the church, the Washington Post reports.
• On Wednesday, Clinton will "unveil a statue of Franklin D. Roosevelt seated in his wheelchair... at the FDR Memorial," the Washington Post reports.
• Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, "has been appointed chairman of the Republican leadership," Roll Call reports.
• Senate Democrats will get an extra $10.6 million "to help pay for additional Democratic staffers resulting from the new 50-50 split on all panels," Roll Call reports.

• Taiwan may ask the United States "to sell it four Kidd-class guided-missile destroyers to counter China's recently purchased Russian-made destroyers," the New York Times reports.
• Commanders of the USS Cole investigation "have recommended that neither the ship's captain nor crew members be punished, even though they failed to follow certain security guidelines," the New York Times reports. AP reports Defense Secretary William Cohen plans to "call for a broader review of accountability for security lapses in connection with the" bombing.
• The U.S. Embassy in Rome, which "closed Friday because of a terrorist threat, is unlikely to reopen before Tuesday," AP reports.

• California Gov. Gray Davis (R) is expected to announce a plan today "to help California climb out of its energy crisis," the Wall Street Journal reports. "The package could include state-issued bonds to help bail out utilities, hundreds of millions of dollars in energy-conservation programs and the creation of a public-power authority."
• The Los Angeles Times reports that businesses in California's Silicon Valley are "resorting to every trick in the book" to keep their power on.
• The crew members of the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission have traveled from Colorado to Florida to begin preparing the spaceship for its April launch, the Denver Post reports.

• American Airlines will buy Trans World Airlines and 49 percent of DC Air, the Washington Post reports.