 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 07.01.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | Fighting resumes in Gaza after three-hour ceasefire
Fighting between Israel's military and Palestinian militants has resumed after both sides observed a three hour ceasefire to allow aid and fuel into the embattled Gaza Strip. The Israeli military has indicated that temporary ceasefires could be repeated to allow further humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave. Meanwhile Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas are examining a Franco-Egyptian truce plan to end the Gaza conflict. Israel is demanding a stop to all rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip and an end to Hamas weapons smuggling via Egypt. Hamas is demanding an end to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel's twelve-day-old ground and air offensive against Hamas has claimed the lives of more than 680 Palestinians, at least a quarter of them civilians, according to medics. Israel has lost seven soldiers while Hamas rocket attacks have killed four Israeli civilians. |  | | Russia to resume gas supply when EU monitors in place
Russia has said that it will resume gas deliveries to Europe once EU monitors are in place on the Russian-Ukrainian border to check supplies. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, made the announcement after the European Commission called on Russian and Ukrainian leaders to imediately resume gas supplies to the 27-nation bloc. Representatives of Gazprom, Naftogaz, the Ukrainian and Russian governments and EU officials will discuss how to restore gas supplies to Europe on Thursday in Brussels. Earlier European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said it was unacceptable that gas supplies to the EU were being taken hostage by a pricing dispute between the two countries. | | | US to hit record $1.2 trillion budget deficit
The US Congressional Budget Offices says the provisional US budget deficit for 2008/2009 will hit a record 1.2 trillion US dollars. That's almost three times higher than the deficit recorded for the previous fiscal year. The CBO's figures don't account for the economic stimulus bill that President-elect Barack Obama is expected to propose in support of the country's ailing economy. Obama officials say the stimulus measure will blend tax cuts with new spending programs and could cost up to $775 billion US dollars over the next few years. | | | Islamabad confirms surviving Mumbai attacker is Pakistani
Pakistan's information minister has confirmed Indian allegations that the sole surviving gunman of the Mumbia terror attacks is in fact a Pakistani citizen. Up until now Pakistan had refused to confirm Ajmal Kasab's nationality, saying he was not registered in the country's identification databases. The confirmation comes two days after New Delhi handed Islamabad a dossier which it said contained evidence linking the Mumbai attackers to Pakistan. The November attacks killed 164 people and left nine of 10 gunmen dead. Pakistan has already taken some action against groups allegedly linked to the attacks. | | | Two million pilgrims gather in holy Iraqi city for Shiite festival
Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims are gathering in the Iraq's holy city of Karabala for the climax of the annual Ashura ceremonies. Officials said more than two million pilgrims from across Iraq, the Middle East and Pakistan have streamed into Karbala, amid tight security. Around 30,000 Iraqi soldiers have been deployed to the region, which is located 100 km from Baghdad. The Ashura ceremonies mark the holiest days for Shiites in a commemoration of the death of Imam Hussein in 680, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. Coordinated suicide bombings in Baghdad and Karbala in 2004 killed more than 160 people. | | | John Atta-Mills sworn in as Ghana president
Opposition leader John Atta-Mills has been sworn in as Ghana's new president in a ceremony in the capital Accra. He replaces John Kufour who is stepping down after serving the maximum two four-year terms. Mills, a 64-year-old politician and law professor beat the ruling party candidate, by less than 0.5 percent of votes in a presidential run-off last week. Earlier in the day, the new parliament took office and elected Ghana's first female speaker since the former Gold Coast colony gained independence from Britain in 1957. | | | Greek PM announces cabinet reshuffle
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has announced a sweeping cabinet reshuffle. In all, nine ministries changed hands. While the finance minister was replaced, the interior minister retained his post despite criticism of the Conservative government's handling of massive riots that were sparked by the police shooting of a teenager last month. The ruling New Democracy party, which swept to power in 2004 and was re-elected in 2007, has also seen its popularity slide due to a series of scandals and unpopular economic policies. | | | Turkish police detain 40 in coup probe
Around 40 people have been arrested in Turkey for their alleged involvement in a plot to topple the Islamist-rooted AK Party government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Prosecutors in Istanbul ordered police to conduct raids in six provinces. Three of those detained on Wednesday are retired army generals with suspected links to the right-wing terror organisation Ergenekon. The military, which has unseated four governments in the last 50 years and views itself as the guarantor of Turkey's secular order, denies any link to the group. Suspected members of the Ergenekon group have been on trial in Istanbul since October. | | | Zimbabwe opposition members charged, plead not guilty in bombing plot
Seven members of Zimbabwe's main opposition party have been formally charged over a bombing plot. All have denied any guilt. The seven include Gandi Mudzingwa, an adviser to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai; and Chris Dhlamini, head of security for Tsvangirai's party. They were among dozens of rights activists and opposition party members detained in recent weeks in what the opposition calls a crackdown on dissent. Their lawyer entered not guilty pleas on behalf of his clients. If convicted, the defendants could face the death penalty. | | | Sri Lanka reimposes official ban on Tamil Tigers
The Sri Lankan government has reimposed a formal ban on the Tamil Tiger rebels which designates them as a terrorist group. The symbolic move rules out the possibility of early peace talks between the warring factions. A government spokesman said the ban was issued after the Tigers failed to respond to an ultimatum to allow civilians to leave the war zone. The group's 25-year-old fight for an independent homeland for the minority Tamil community suffered a heavy blow last week when army troops drove the rebels out of their de facto capital Kilinochchi in Sri Lanka's north. | | | Economic downturn starts to hit German job market
Germany's Labour Office says that unemployment in Europe's largest economy rose by 0.3 percent to a total of 7.4 percent in December. This translates into an additional 114,000 unemployed, bringing the total figure to 3.1 million as the fallout from the economic crisis begins to be felt in the job market. The new data released by the Nuremberg-based Labour Office follows a series of announcements by companies planning layoffs and production cuts as they face up to what could be the biggest economic downturn since the end of World War II. Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition are hoping to formally adopt a second two-year economic stimulus package next week that is worth up to 50 billion euros. | | | | | |  | | |  Up-to-date news at DW-WORLD.DE | | | | | | |  | | | Note
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Israel Briefly Suspends Gaza Campaign, Ponders UN Plan
