 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 10.01.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | Gaza casualties on the rise as Israeli assault continues
Israel is continuing its offensive in the Gaza Strip for a 15th straight day after both Israel and Hamas defied Thursday's UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. Palestinian medical authorities now say some 800 people have been killed, including hundreds of civilians. They say eight Palestinians were killed by an Israeli tank shell in Jabaliya in the north of Gaza in one attack on Saturday. Israeli officials say Hamas rockets have hit the town of Ashkelon, about 20 km from the Gaza Strip, wounding two Israelis. Ten Israeli soldiers and four civilians have been killed since the start of the offensive. Meanwhile, the UN says it will resume aid distribution in the Gaza Strip after receiving security assurances from Israel. The UN Relief and Works Agency suspended operations in the enclave on Thursday after a UN convoy was hit by two Israeli tank shells. |  | | Abbas backs Franco-Egyptian plan
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on Hamas and Israel to accept a French-Egyptian peace initiative. After talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Abbas said there was no time for hesitation in accepting the initiative, which calls among other things for an immediate truce and opening Gaza's border crossings. He said the initiative was the main way Thursday's UN Security Council ceasefire resolution could be put into action. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has also met with Mubarak as part of international efforts for a ceasefire. He told reporters that, while the Security Council resolution was a step in the right direction, international cooperation was necessary to bring about a permanent ceasefire. Steinmeier was also expected to meet with Abbas and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa before going on to Israel to talk with officials there. | | | Thousands in German city protest Israeli offensive
Some 10,000 people have marched through the western German city of Duisburg protesting against the Israeli offensive in Gaza. The demonstrators called for an immediate end to the violence and a lifting of the blockade on Gaza. The demonstration was organized by the regional office of Milli Gorus, a group whose founder advocates creating an Islamic state in Turkey.
| | | Russia to resume gas supply when monitoring starts
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says his country will resume gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine as soon as a monitoring system is in place. However, he warned that supplies would be cut again if any "theft" by Ukraine was detected. The comments came after Putin held talks near Moscow with Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency. Russia is demanding that Ukraine sign an agreement on the deployment of independent monitors to ensure that a gas pipeline through Ukraine is not tampered with. Earlier this week, Russia cut off supplies amid a payment dispute, after accusing Ukraine of stealing gas bound for Europe, something Kiev has denied. The crisis has left hundreds of thousands of homes in Europe without heating, as temperatures plunge well below zero. Serbia, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Bulgaria are among the worst hit. | | | Germany's CDU adopts plan for new stimulus package
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union has adopted a plan for a second stimulus package to help shore up the economy and the party's campaign to get re-elected later this year. The plan, agreed at a CDU meeting in the central city of Erfurt, includes setting up a fund to help healthy firms get credit and cuts in taxes and health insurance contributions. An earlier government package launched in November was criticised by many as too modest. Berlin said the first programme was worth 31 billion euros but critics said this figure included sums relating to measures previously passed. Leaders of the ruling grand coalition -- the CDU, its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, and the Social Democrats -- have said investment, tax cuts and other economic support for this year and the next could be worth up to 50 billion euros. A final decision is expected after a meeting of coalition leaders on Monday. | | | Somali pirates "release ship"
Iranian media say Somali pirates have released an Iranian-chartered vessel which was seized off the coast of Yemen in November. News agencies said the ship, the Delight, was freed on Friday night, but did not say whether ransom had been paid. They said all crew were safe. The news of the release comes a day after pirates freed the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star, which was also seized in November off the coast of Kenya. Reports say at least five of the pirates drowned on leaving the supertanker when their small escape raft capsized. | | | More would-be immigrants arrive in Italy
Italian officials say around 500 would-be immigrants have arrived on the southern island of Lampedusa. They say the arrival places further strain on already overcrowded reception centres. The ANSA news agency says the Italian navy picked up 324 migrants on a boat 60 nautical miles from the island, and another 200 reached Lampedusa on a rickety vessel. Thousands of immigrants, most of them African, arrive in Lampedusa each year, but the post-Christmas period has seen a surge in arrivals. Almost 37,000 immigrants arrived in Italy by sea in 2008, a 75 percent increase over the previous year. | | | German supermarket leader Edeka plans 8,000 new jobs
Germany's leading supermarket corporation Edeka plans to create 8,000 new jobs this year despite the economic crisis. The Hamburg-based company's CEO, Markus Mosa, told a German newspaper that discount stores, which currently account for about 42 percent of the market, could increase their market share to about 50 percent in the coming years. Last month, Germany's competition authority gave the green light for the merger of Edeka's Netto stores with the Plus chain. That will make the group the third largest in the discount supermarket sector, with revenues of more than 11 billion euros. | | | | | |  | | |  Up-to-date news at DW-WORLD.DE | | | | | | |  | | | Note
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Russia, EU Sign Gas Deal; Ukraine and EU Close to Agreement
