BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) - At least 59 people were killed in a fire that broke out early Thursday at one of Bangkok's most upscale nightclubs, where about 1,000 revelers were ringing in the new year, Thai police said.

The fire, at a club called Zantika, started at about 12:35 a.m., police told CNN.

The blaze started near a stage where fireworks were being used as part of a performance, according to authorities. Most of those who died in the building died from smoke inhalation or were trampled in a rush to get out of the club, they said.

The club is located in one of Bangkok's busiest commercial districts. Most of the fatality victims were Thai, but foreigners have been identified from Australia, the Netherlands, Nepal and Japan, police said.

–CNN's Kocha Olarn contributed to this report.

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) - At least 59 people were killed in a fire that broke out in an upscale nightclub in Bangkok early Thursday morning, Thai police said.

The fire, at a club called Zantika, started at about 12:35 a.m., police told CNN.

The club is located in one of Bangkok's busiest commercial districts. Police said foreigners were among the victims, but there was no immediate word on the identities of those killed in the blaze.

 –CNN's Kocha Olarn contributed to this report.

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) - A soldier with the International Security Assistance Force was killed Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, military officials said in a statement.

"Our sincere condolences and deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of this brave serviceman particularly at this time of year," said Capt. Mark Windsor Royal Navy, ISAF spokesman, in a statement. "This serviceman's like was taken while helping to bring peace and security to the people of Afghanistan."

The soldier's nationality and further details were not released. The soldier's relatives have been notified of his death, the ISAF said.

The death brings to 1,035 the number of soldiers killed in
Operation Enduring Freedom in and around Afghanistan. Of those, 546 U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan.

By Samira J. Simone

CNN

(CNN) - Israel has taken its barrage of airstrikes in Gaza to the Web, creating a YouTube channel this week to post footage of its air force dropping bombs on Hamas targets.

The posts started Monday, with black-and-white aerial military video of Israel aircraft striking "rockets in transit" and "terrorist smuggling tunnels." Another video, this one in color, shows what are identified as Israel trucks transporting aid into Gaza.

An initial message by the Israel Defense Forces posted on the channel, youtube.com/user/idfnadesk, said Israel wanted to use YouTube to "help us bring our message to the world" with "exclusive footage showing the IDF's operation success" in Gaza. An IDF spokesman told CNN that YouTube was a way to get that message "to as many as we can," though he declined to comment further.

The statement, still posted as of Tuesday night, also said YouTube had taken down some of the IDF videos but, "due to blogger and viewer support, YouTube has returned some of the footage they removed."

(CNN) - The United Nations Security Council will confer privately Wednesday night on the violence in Gaza and southern Israel, the council's office said.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. ET, the office said.

An Arab diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity told CNN a resolution asking for a cessation of hostilities and a condemnation of Israel for its airstrikes on Gaza would be put before the council Wednesday night.

The resolution also asks for the protection of the Palestinian people and holds Israel responsible for "killing and destruction," said the diplomat said. Earlier Wednesday, Arab League ministers emerged from an emergency meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on the crisis, saying they had asked Security Council for an urgent meeting and for it to adopt a resolution condemning Israel's operation in Gaza.

By Steve Hargreaves
CNNMoney.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - After a shockingly tumultuous year, Citigroup said Wednesday that its top executives will forego their usual annual bonus.

In a letter to employees, Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said the bonus structure would change for all employees. Pandit said he and Win Bischoff, the bank's chairman, will receive no bonus.

"Win and I believe this is fair, in light of the challenges of the year and the need for compensation elsewhere in the organization," Pandit wrote. "Unfortunately, the harsh realities of 2008, primarily our earnings results, mean that our bonus pool is dramatically lower than last year."

Pandit also said the bonuses for the company's other top executives would be "reduced substantially."

By Paul Steinhauser
CNN Deputy Political Director

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A national poll released Wednesday suggests that three-quarters of the public thinks that Barack Obama is a strong and decisive leader, the highest marks for a president-elect on that characteristic in nearly three decades.

Seventy-six percent of Americans questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey conducted December 19-21 say that Obama is a strong and decisive leader.

"That's the best number an incoming president has gotten on that dimension since Ronald Reagan took office in 1981," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "The public's rating of his leadership skills is already as high as George W. Bush's was after 9/11, and easily beats the numbers that both Bush and Bill Clinton got at the start of their first terms in office."

By Lara Moscrip
CNNMoney.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Despite a last-minute rush by shoppers looking to take advantage of deep discounts during the Christmas week, sales during the holiday retail season are looking even weaker than expected, according to a retail research firm's preliminary report issued Wednesday.

ShopperTrak said it now expects its final figures to show a record 2.3 percent decline in retail sales over the November-December holiday season, with a 16 percent percent drop in store traffic. Those figures were the lowest estimates since the company began compiling the data in 2001. In November, the firm forecast that overall retail sales would rise a mere 0.1 percent and store traffic would drop by 9.9 percent.

Even a 21.2 percent increase in year-over-year sales for the December 21-27 week, which included the days before Christmas and the post-Christmas discounts, wasn't able to salvage the season. And with one week left to track in December, it's unlikely that any uptick will make a difference.

By Brandon Griggs
CNN
(CNN) - Baffled consumers are griping about a mysterious glitch that appeared to cause thousands of Zune MP3 music players to simultaneously stop working late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Internet message boards have been flooded with complaints about Zune's 30GB models freezing, prompting Y2K-like speculation about end-of-year hardware or software problems.
"It seems that every Zune on the planet has just frozen up and will not work," posted a Mountain Home, Idaho, user on CNN's iReport.com. "I have 3 and they all in the same night stopped working."

(CNN) - Wiping tears from his cheeks, a man who survived deadly avalanches that killed eight snowmobilers in the mountains of British Columbia told reporters Wednesday he and the other two survivors tried their best to save their friends, but in the end had to make the difficult choice to get off the mountain and seek help because of the threat of further slides.
Flanked by his fiancee, Jeffrey Adams described digging himself out after the avalanches struck the group Sunday in the backcountry about 20 km (12 miles) east of Fernie, a town in the Canadian Rockies about 300 km (190 miles) southwest of Calgary, Alberta.
Both avalanches left him buried but near the surface, he said.  He was able to dig himself out, choking on snow, and free a second companion - without gloves or gear.