 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 25.01.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | EU ministers meet key Mideast players over Gaza
European Union foreign ministers are meeting with counterparts from Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and the Palestinian territories to discuss the situation in Gaza. Sunday's evening meeting in Brussels will assess the state of the ceasefire in the Palestinian territory and look at ways to improve the flow of aid and reconstruction. The EU, which is the biggest aid donor to the Palestinians, is considering deploying personnel at Gaza crossing points to secure and monitor the flow of aid. The EU is also looking at ways to prevent the smuggling of arms into the Hamas-ruled enclave. |  | | German FM Steinmeier floats Middle East plan
A newspaper report suggests that a proposal drafted by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier could form the basis of future European Union policy on the Middle East. The report, published in this Sunday's edition of the Welt am Sonntag, quotes diplomatic sources in Berlin who say that the document has already been endorsed by France, Britain, Italy and Spain. The aim of the initiative is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Steinmeier's plan also covers humanitarian aid and halting weapons smuggling into Gaza. The proposal is to be discussed during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday. | | | Israeli soldiers to receive full legal backing over Gaza war
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has promised military personnel full legal backing in the event of foreign prosecution over alleged war crimes in Gaza. The proposal was drawn up by Defence Minister Ehud Barak, after consultations with military and justice ministry officials. Barak's proposal described the Gaza operation as legitimate self defence under international law, following years of Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel. The cabinet decision also maintained that the Israeli military did everything it could to prevent civilians from being harmed. Some 1,300 Palestinians, including at least 700 civilians, were killed in Israel's offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The civilian deaths prompted senior UN officials to demand independent investigations into whether Israel committed war crimes during its three-week campaign to stop Hamas rocket attacks. | | | Sri Lanka's military takes last major Tamil Tiger stronghold
Sri Lanka's military says it has captured the Tamil Tiger rebels' last major stronghold of Mullaittivu in the country's northeast. Speaking on national television, the country's army chief said that troops had completely taken the town after a month of fighting. The rebels have not commented on the report. Earlier this month, Sri Lanka's military captured the rebels de-facto capital of Kilinochchi and promised to crush the rebel group. The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for a separate homeland in the north and east of Sri Lanka for the past 25 years. An estimated 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict. | | | Ethiopia completes troop withdrawal from Somalia
Ethiopia says it has completed its month-long troop withdrawal from neighbouring Somalia. The announcement comes a day before Somali legislators are due to vote for a new president. Ethiopia's pullout leaves an over stretched African Union force from Uganda and Burundi to back government forces against resurgent Islamist rebels. Reports suggest that government forces now only control parts of the capital Mogadishu and Baidoa while Islamists control most of southern and central Somalia, including several major cities. Ethiopian forces invaded in late 2006 at the request of Somalia's UN-backed government to help kick out a hardline Islamist regime that was in power for six months. The invasion sparked a bloody insurgency that has killed an estimated 16,000 civilians and displaced around 1 million. | | | Bolivians to vote on new constitution
Bolivians are going to the polls to vote on a new constitution that is meant to give greater political power and more revenue from the country's gas industry to its indigenous majority. It would also scrap the single term limit for Bolivia's head of state, paving the way for left-wing President Evo Morales to run for another five-year term. If voters approve the new constitution, the country's first indigenous president has pledged to hold early presidential and parliamentary polls in December. | | | Indian police shoot dead two suspected Pakistani militants
Indian police have shot dead two suspected militants from Pakistan near the capital, New Delhi. A police spokesman said that the two men were injured in a shoot-out with members of the anti-terror squad in a New Delhi suburb. Both suspects died on the way to hospital. Police say they recovered documents showing that they were Pakistani nationals. A spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry declined to comment on the report. The incident came ahead of Monday's Republic Day holiday, which has led to heightened security following the Mumbai attacks two months ago, in which 10 gunmen killed more than 160 people. | | | Storm kills 15 in France, Spain
More than one million homes in France and hundreds of thousands in Spain remain without power this Sunday, as a result of the worst storm to hit the region in a decade. Emergency services workers have been working to restore power and clear up the debris, which has left many roads blocked. At least 15 people were killed as the storm, packing heavy rain and winds of up to 170 kilometres per hour battered the region. Among the victims were four children who died when the roof of a sports centre collapsed near Barcelona. The storm has been moving slowly eastwards, away from southern France and northern Spain and on towards Italy. | | | Iceland's commerce minister quits over economic woes
Iceland's minister of commerce, Bjorgvin Sigurdsson, has resigned just two days after the country's prime minister announced that an early general election would be held in May. Sigurdsson, who is a member of Iceland's junior coalition partners, the Social Democrats, told reporters in Reykjavik that he was taking responsibility for Iceland's economic collapse. He was speaking just hours after thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital to demand that the government step down immediately. Organisers said this was the largest anti-government protest that Reykjavik has seen in two months. Prime Minister Geir Haarde, who has said that he will not run for re-election in the May polls, was not legally bound to call an election for another two years.
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Europe Recovers From Killer Storm
