The Irish Times - World

• US, France, UN, EU and Russia all urge Gaza ceasefire
  INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC efforts to address the crisis in Gaza gathered pace yesterday but, with Israel rebuffing calls for an immediate ceasefire, it remained unclear how long it would take to resolve the situation.
  
  
• Obama in all-party talks on $500bn jobs stimulus deal
  TWO WEEKS before he is sworn in as president, Barack Obama has started talks with Democrats and Republicans in Congress about a massive economic recovery plan aimed at creating more than three million jobs and saving the United States from a depression.
  
  
• Medical attention ordered for activist
  A ZIMBABWEAN judge has told state prosecutors that their case against prominent Zimbabwean human rights activist Jestina Mukoko, accused of trying to topple the government, will not be heard until she receives medical attention.
  
  
• 'Under the rubble, we found arms, legs, and half a head'
  THE SMALL dead bodies were laid next to one another on the tiled floor of the morgue corridor, the blood drained from their cheeks. One had a bandage still wrapped around his head, another lay with his mouth half-open in his oversized, bloodstained clothes.
  
  
• Arabs seek UN resolution demanding truce
  UNITED NATIONS - Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said yesterday Arab countries were drafting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate end to "Israeli aggression" in Gaza.
  
  
• Lack of food and medicine a catastrophe, say aid groups
  ISRAELI SHELLING killed 14 members of two Palestinian families yesterday, raising the fatality toll to more than 90 since Israel began its ground offensive on Saturday. According to UN and Palestinian health authority sources, at least 535 Palestinians have been killed, of which an estimated 28 per cent were women and children, and 2,450 wounded, 40 per cent women and children, in the offensive Israel launched on December 27th.
  
  
• ICG calls for ceasefire in Gaza, proposes actions for both sides
  THE INTERNATIONAL Crisis Group (ICG) yesterday called for an immediate cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, followed by an indefinite ceasefire, a commitment by Hamas to end arms smuggling into Gaza, the deployment of international monitors to ensure compliance with the ceasefire and the opening of Gaza's crossings with Israel and Egypt.
  
  
• Arabs criticise Obama's 'deafening silence' on crisis
  AS ISRAEL'S military assault on Gaza enters its 11th day, US president-elect Barack Obama is the subject of growing criticism from Arabs disappointed that he waited until yesterday to make his first cautious remarks on the crisis.Asked whether events in Gaza were distracting him, Mr Obama said: "Obviously, international affairs are of deep concern." He added that he was being briefed daily on the situation.
  
  
• Israel hopes to avoid taking casualties by not being drawn into urban warfare
  IN STARK contrast to their attack on Lebanon in 2006, Israeli forces prepared well in advance. And they know Gaza, which they occupied until 2005 and have since observed closely from the air.
  
  
• Sderot - where 'the rockets fall like rain'
  Just three miles from the Gaza border, one Israeli city lives in fear of Hamas attacks, writes in Sderot
  
  
• War is no path to peace, Fisk tells meeting
  THE REFUSAL of the American and British governments to condemn Israel for its actions in Gaza convinced people that they were not interested in justice and peace in the Middle East, journalist Robert Fisk told an audience in Derry last night.
  
  
• Indian dossier links terrorists with Pakistan
  INDIA CONTINUED its diplomatic offensive against neighbouring rival Pakistan by handing over evidence to Islamabad yesterday linking last year's Mumbai terrorist strikes to "elements" in that country.
  
  
• French TV adverts ban sparks wave of strikes
  PRESIDENT NICOLAS Sarkozy's acolytes say a ban on advertising on public television heralds a "cultural revolution", a televisual "big bang" and the advent of a "French BBC".
  
  
• Russia cuts EU gas via Ukraine as bill dispute goes on
  RUSSIA PILED pressure on Ukraine in their energy dispute yesterday, by ordering an immediate cut in gas exports through Ukraine to EU states which are already experiencing sharp falls in supply.
  
  
• Cameron calls on Brown to hold early general election
  CONSERVATIVE LEADER David Cameron has combined a renewed call for an early general election with a warning that Britain's economic problems will worsen if prime minister Gordon Brown delays until next year.
  
  
• Shias return from exile to a more tolerant Afghanistan
  Long-suppressed Shia Muslims are finding acceptance at last, writes in Kabul
  
  
• Moroccan is new mayor of Rotterdam
  ROTTERDAM - A Moroccan immigrant was installed yesterday as mayor of Rotterdam, the second largest city in the Netherlands, in a step seen as contributing towards the integration of minorities.
  
  
• Belgium's political and economic mood is as dark as its chocolate
  One linguistically spilt EU hub in search of a stable government looks set for further stalemate, writes
  
  
• In Short
  A round-up of today's other world news in brief