From Valorie Nocciolo
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Authorities arrested a 20-year-old man Wednesday night when he approached a checkpoint near Lafayette Park across from the White House with shotgun shells on the front seat of his vehicle, a Secret Service spokesman told CNN.

Spokesman Ed Donovan said Andrew Martin was pulled from his car when agents spotted the shotgun shells and brought in a canine unit.

Agents also called in the bomb squad, but no explosives were found. Martin was arrested for unauthorized possession of firearms.

President Bush is not currently in residence at the White House. He and first lady Laura Bush are at their ranch in Crawford, Texas.

By Bill Mears
CNN Supreme Court Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Saying he is "tired of saying it," Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts on Wednesday again renewed his call for higher judicial pay, warning of a long-term damage to the fabric of the courts.

In his annual year-end report, the 53-year-old Roberts noted judges' salaries have declined over the past two decades when measured against inflation, causing many judges to leave the bench for more lucrative jobs in the private sector. Roberts and other judges have said a crisis in the administration of justice could result if the bench cannot attract "judges who are the best of the best."

"I must renew the judiciary's modest petition: Simply provide cost-of-living increases that have been unfairly denied," wrote Roberts. "We have done our part - it is long past time for Congress to do its."

New Year's Eve are again asking for relief from Minnesota's high court on the issue of improperly rejected absentee ballots in the state's still unresolved race between Coleman and Democrat Al Franken.

As outlined in a previous ruling by the state Supreme Court, both campaigns and local election officials must agree on the ballots that were improperly rejected before the canvassing board can open and count them. Ballots that are rejected improperly are typically so because of a clerical error or something similar.

Local elections officials had identified approximately 1,350 ballots that may have been rejected in error. The Coleman campaign is asking the court to force Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and the state canvassing board to consider not only those but hundreds more that they've identified unilaterally.

Ritchie's office released a statement saying it has been working closely with both campaigns to count wrongly rejected absentee ballots by Jan. 4.

"This process, now 90 percent complete, was agreed upon by both campaigns, local officials, and the Secretary of State on the afternoon of December 24, 2008," the statement reads. "We look forward to the completion of the State Canvassing Board's work next week."

As they've done in the past, the Coleman campaign then accused Ritchie's office of supporting Franken.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - General Motors got the first $4 billion of a series of emergency loans from the U.S. Treasury Wednesday, but fellow struggling automaker Chrysler was still waiting as the new year rapidly approached.

General Motors had said it needed the loan by the end of the month to continue operations; privately-held Chrysler said it will need $4 billion or it will also run out of cash early in 2009.

"Treasury today finalized the loan transaction for GM and funded the first tranche of $4 billion," said Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin. "We're working expeditiously with Chrysler to finalize that transaction and we remain committed to closing it on a timeline that will meet near term funding needs."

Chrysler spokeswoman Lori McTavish said discussions with the Treasury Department had been "positive and productive" and that the company expected the deal would be done "in the immediate future."

(CNN) - Russian energy monopoly Gazprom on Wednesday said it would stop natural gas deliveries to Ukraine over a dispute about payments.

Gazprom chief Alexey Miller said talks with Ukraine have been "unproductive" and accused Ukraine of using the issue as "a political bargaining chip."

"The talks with Ukraine haven't brought any concrete result ... Gazprom hasn't received any money from Ukraine as payment for the supplies of Russian gas," Miller said in a statement on the Gazprom Web site.

The state-controlled Gazprom said supplies to its other European customers would not be affected by Ukraine's cut-off, which the company said would take place at 10 a.m. Thursday (2 a.m. ET).

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko also assured the European Union that there would be no disruptions in deliveries, the Kiev Post reported.

NEW YORK (CNN) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday again called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, condemning the actions of both Hamas and Israel over the past five days and appealing to the international community to do more to end the violence.

"As a result of this crisis and violence, the conditions for the 1.5 million in Gaza today are nothing short of terrifying," Ban told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday night.

He noted the Council's call for an immediate cease-fire was unheeded, saying, "The civilian population, the fabric of Gaza, the future of the peace process and stability in the region ... all are trapped by the indiscriminate firing of rockets by Hams and the disproportionate size of the Israeli operation."

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) - Roland Burris, the man embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has appointed to fill President-elect Barack Obama's seat in the U.S. Senate, is asking the state's supreme court to confirm that nomination.

The move comes after Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, a Democrat like Blagojevich and Burris, refused to sign off on the appointment - which was announced Tuesday.

Documents filed Wednesday by lawyers for Burris ask the court to require White "to certify Governor Blagojevich's appointment of Mr. Burris to the office of United States Senator from the state of Illinois and do all other acts required to confirm such appointment."

By Alexandra Twin

CNNMoney.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks rallied Wednesday, as investors welcomed the end of an abysmal year on Wall Street and looked forward to a better year ahead.

All financial markets are closed Thursday for New Year's Day.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.3 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 1.4 percent and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.7 percent.

For investors, 2008 has been the worst year since the 1930s. The Dow lost 33.8 percent, the S&P 500 38.5 percent and the Nasdaq 40.5 percent.

From Charley Keyes
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) - As Israel vowed to continue its attacks on Gaza and Hamas rockets rained down on southern Israeli towns, U.S. and and other international players scrambled in the background to bring about a cease-fire as soon as possible.

State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said that the diplomats are not wavering in their efforts.

"The effort to bring about a cease-fire continues," Dugoid told reporters in an off-camera briefing. "We are not allowing any of the events that may occur before that happens to dissuade us in our efforts to bring about a cease-fire ... that is durable and sustainable."

NEW YORK (CNN) - Bernard Madoff, the financier alleged to have have swindled investors in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, complied Wednesday with a U.S. federal judge's order to provide a list of financial assets by December 31, according to Madoff attorney Ira Sorkin.

Sorkin said that Madoff had met terms of an order from U.S. District Court Judge Louis Stanton to provide a complete list of his assets to the

The SEC said they received the list but declined to characterize it in any way.