 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 11.01.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | Gaza offensive continues for 16th day
Israeli troops and Hamas militants have clashed heavily on the 16th day of Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Witnesses reported heavy fighting east of the city of Gaza, with militants firing anti-tank missiles and mortar bombs at Israeli troops backed by aircraft. Medics in Gaza say the Palestinian death toll has passed 850. In the two weeks, Israel has lost 10 soldiers and three civilians. It has denied a Palestinian claim that phosphorus shells killed a woman and left 55 Palestinians with burns at Khuzaa, a village east of Khan Yunis. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has told his cabinet that Israel has almost achieved its objectives, but would continue the offensive for the time being. Israel says its aim is to stop Palestinian militants firing rockets into southern Israel. Rocket attacks have continued despite the offensive. |  | | Steinmeier meets with Israeli president
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is in Israel on the second day of his Middle East mediation trip. In Jerusalem, he met with Israeli President Schimon Peres to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip. Earlier, he spoke with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross. On Saturday, Steinmeier offered Egypt German help in guarding its border to the Gaza Strip to prevent arms smuggling by the radical Islamic group Hamas. He said Germany would also help equip and train Egyptian border police and provide technical equipment to enhance border security. | | | Russia set to resume gas supply to Europe
News that Russia and Ukraine have reached agreement on resuming gas supplies to Europe has been hit by a last-minute snag, after energy giant Gazprom said the deal was being delayed. The Russian state monopoly said it had not been sent a signed copy of the new transit accord by authorities in Kiev. Earlier Moscow and Kiev signed a an agreement on deploying independent experts to monitor Russian natural gas piped across Ukraine. Moscow has accused Kiev of siphoning off gas bound for Europe, a charge Ukraine denies. European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has welcomed the deal and called for supplies to be resumed quickly. But Gazprom has said it could still take some time to restore full volumes to countries such as Bulgaria and Serbia. Tens of thousands of homes in central and eastern Europe have been without heating in sub-zero temperatures. | | | Indonesian ferry sinks, over 200 missing
Indonesian officials say a ferry with some 250 people on board has sunk in rough waters off the western Indonesian province of West Sulawesi, leaving more than 200 missing and feared drowned. They said rescue workers were searching for the missing people. The ferry was travelling from Pare-pare on the island of Sulawesi to Samarinda in East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. | | | Quake toll reaches 18 in Costa Rican quake
Rescuers in Costa Rica are stepping up searches to reach hundreds of people stranded in mountainous central regions after an earthquake that has left at least 18 people dead. Officials say at least 40 people are still missing after the 6.1-magnitude quake, which hit on Thursday. They say the death toll could rise when rescue workers reach isolated villages and cars buried by mudslides. The earthquake's epicentre was some 30 kilometres northwest of the capital, San José. It is reportedly the most powerful earthquake in Costa Rica for 150 years. | | | ECOWAS suspends Guinea after coup
The West African regional bloc ECOWAS says it has suspended Guinea until the military junta which seized power last month returns the country to democratic rule. The announcement came after heads of state and government from the Economic Community of West African States met in the Nigerian capital Abuja. The rebuke from Guinea's neighbours follows a similar move by the African Union, which suspended the former French colony last month. The European Union and the US have also called for elections to be held. On December 23, Guinean soldiers led by Captain Moussa Camara staged a bloodless coup hours after the death of long-time dictator Lansana Conte. | | | Pakistani clashes leave six troops, 40 militants dead
Pakistani military officials say six soldiers and at least 40 Islamist militants have been killed in fighting near the Afghan border. They said the clashes occurred when hundreds of militants attacked Pakistani security forces in the military stronghold of Lakaro in the Mohmand tribal area. The area is known as a hub of Taliban and al-Qaeda activity. | | | NYT - Bush rejected Israeli request
The New York Times says departing US President George W. Bush last year rejected a secret Israeli request for an air strike against Iran's main nuclear complex at Natanz. Israel had asked for US bombs capable of penetrating deep into bunkers, according to the newspaper. Quoting unnamed senior US and foreign officials, it adds that Bush did however authorize covert action to sabotage Iran's suspected atomic weapons programme, including disruption of its electrical and computer infrastructure. Iran, whose president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has often railed against Israel, denies seeking nuclear arms. | | | Slovakia to reopen nuclear plant amid gas crisis
The Slovak government says it plans to reopen a power generating unit at a controversial nuclear plant because of the gas crisis caused by the dispute between Russia and Ukraine. Prime Minister Robert Fico said the Jaslovske Bohunice plant would be reopened because Slovakia needed additional power generating capacities after deliveries of Russian gas were cut completely earlier this week. The plant had been shut down at the end of 2008 to comply with the European Union accession agreement. | | | Germany's CDU adopts plan for new stimulus package
The party of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Christian Democratic Union, has launched a plan for a second stimulus package to help shore up Germany's slowing economy. The plan, agreed at a CDU meeting in Erfurt, includes a loan fund for firms and cuts in taxes and employee health insurance contributions. A final decision is expected at a meeting of coalition leaders on Monday. An earlier package launched in November was criticised by many as too modest. Berlin priced it at 31 billion euros but critics said this figure included past allocations for projects previously approved. Leaders of the ruling grand coalition -- the CDU, its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, and the Social Democrats -- have said the new package could be worth up to 50 billion euros. | | | Germany's Wilhelm wins thrilling Oberhof mass-start
In winter sports, Germany's Kati Wilhelm has won the women's biathlon World Cup mass start event in Oberhof. Meanwhile in Maribor, Slovenia, German skier Maria Riesch won her fourth successive World Cup slalom on Sunday, seeing off Austria's Kathrin Zettel and Finland's Tanja Poutiainen. The win helped her establish a clear at the head of the overall World Cup standings as well as the slalom rankings.
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Israeli Forces Push Deeper into Gaza as Hamas Steps up Attacks
