 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 13.01.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | Israeli troops tighten grip on Gaza City
Israeli ground troops have been tightening their grip around Gaza City. Palestinian witnesses said Israeli forces had moved into a neighbourhood of high-rise buildings on the south-eastern edge of the city. Several buildings were reported to be on fire. Palestinian medical sources said that at least 21 people had been killed in the latest fighting, including three civilians. Israeli sources have suggested that the death toll could be higher. Israeli military officials say their aircraft have attacked at least 60 targets over the past 24 hours. More than 900 Palestinians, including almost 400 civilians have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on the Gaza Strip 18 days ago. Three Israeli civilians have been killed in rockets fired by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died in the fighting. |  | | Hamas expresses reservations about Egypt truce proposal
The Palestinian militant group Hamas has expressed reservations about an Egyptian plan for a cease-fire with Israel. A senior Hamas official based in Damascus told an Arab broadcaster that any proposal for a truce must include its demands for an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the complete re-opening of border crossings. Moussa Abu Marzouq's statement came as a Hamas delegation was in Cairo for a fresh round of negotiations with Egyptian intelligence officials. Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire. Steinmeier said in a statement released following a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, that this would be a first step towards a long-term truce. He said Germany was willing to do its part to implement a cease-fire deal that would include measures to prevent weapons smuggling into Gaza. | | | Clinton appears before Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The designated US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, says the United States must address Israel's security needs and the Palestinians' aspirations for a state of their own. This, she said, would be part of a pragmatic foreign policy under President-elect Barack Obama. Clinton was speaking in her first testimony at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The New York Democrat also said the United States should pursue a foreign policy that challenges Iran to end its nuclear weapons programme. The said that no options would be off the table when dealing with Iran, but that diplomacy would play a leading role in US foreign policy. | | | European Commission says Ukraine blocking resumed gas flows
The European Commission has confirmed reports that Ukraine is blocking gas meant to flow to European Union markets. A spokesman in Brussels said that "little or no gas" was flowing from Russia through the Ukraine to Europe and demanded that the situation change. Russian gas company Gazprom said the Ukrainians were blocking gas again destined for Europe. Earlier Gazprom officials ordered the resumption of gas supplies through Ukraine to Europe following an EU-brokered monitoring deal. Hundreds of thousands of people in Europe have been left without gas since a contract dispute came to a head with Russia shutting off supplies last week. Moscow has accused Kiev of siphoning off gas meant for European customers. | | | German coalition finalises second stimulus package
Germany's grand coalition has finalised the government's second economic stimulus package. The two-year deal will be worth 50 billion euros and will focus on investments in infrastructure projects and education. The deal also proposes tax cuts as well as state loans and guarantees for struggling companies. Families are to benefit with a one-off bonus of 100 euros per child. The coalition also agreed on incentives for the purchase of more environment-friendly cars. The German government passed a first stimulus plan worth 31 billion euros back in November. But critics said this was not sufficient to soften the blow of what could be Germany's worst recession since World War II. | | | Zimbabwe cholera death toll soars pass 2,000
The World Health Organisation says the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe has claimed more than 2,000 lives since the start of the outbreak in August. A WHO spokesman in Geneva said the number of diagnosed cases had nearly reached 40,000. UN officials say lack of clean drinking water and sanitation continues to be a problem, as well as Zimbabwe's crumbling health service. The Zimbabwean capital Harare remains the worst-hit region, with 238 deaths recorded and nearly 11,000 suspected cases. The US-based group Physicians for Human Rights called for Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to be charged with crimes against humanity over rights abuses and the collapse of the nation's health system. | | | Ethiopia withdraws first troops from Somalia
Ethiopian forces have pulled out from two bases in northern Mogadishu, just over two years after their intervention in Somalia. Residents of the Somali capital were seen celebrating as the troops left. Ethiopia entered Somalia in late 2006 to help government forces overthrow Islamists, who now again control much of the country. The pullout was part of a peace plan agreed upon between the government and moderate Islamists last November. With the departure of Ethiopia's army, only a small, underequipped African Union force remains behind to provide security in Mogadishu, sparking fears of a power vacuum and increasing violence. | | | German wholesale prices hit record high in 2008
Primarily due to the high cost of oil in 2008, Germany experienced the biggest jump in wholesale prices in more than a quarter of a century. The Federal Statistics Office said that prices rose an average of 5.4 percent last year, spiking in July to 9.9 percent. Since then, wholesale prices have fallen by some three percent. The overall inflation rate for 2008, at 2.6 percent, was well above the two percent average for the last ten years. | | | | | |  | | |  Up-to-date news at DW-WORLD.DE | | | | | | |  | | | Note
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Ukraine Blocks Russian Gas From Getting to Europe
