Pressure grows for Gaza ceasefire
 Israel says it is defending itself against terrorists |
Pressure is building on Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal backed by the UN and the US to end fighting in Gaza.
The plan, proposed by Egypt and France, calls for an immediate ceasefire to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip, and talks with Israel on border security.
It follows one of the deadliest days since the offensive began, with more than 130 people killed on Tuesday.
Overnight, Israeli forces launched 40 fresh air strikes in Gaza.
The Israeli army has reported no missile launches from Gaza into Israel on Wednesday.
The Israeli government says it has agreed to open a humanitarian corridor into the Gaza Strip, to allow vital supplies into specified areas.
John Ging, of the UN relief agency, Unwra, said the Israeli offer was an improvement, but the priority was a cessation of the current violence.
Civilian deaths
Israel's security cabinet is meeting on Wednesday to consider the proposals from France and Egypt, but ministers are also expected to discuss expanding operations.
 |   |
Israel wants to stop Hamas smuggling weapons into Gaza via Egypt, while Hamas says any ceasefire deal must include an end to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.
More than 600 Palestinians are now believed to have been killed since Israel began its offensive 11 days ago.
Palestinian health ministry officials say at least 195 children are among those killed.
An Israeli attack on Tuesday on a UN-run school building, being used to shelter people who had fled their homes, killed 30 people and injured 55, UN officials say.
The Israeli military said its soldiers had come under mortar fire from Hamas militants inside the school. A spokesman for Hamas denied there had been any hostile fire coming from the school.
Israel has lost seven soldiers on the ground. Four people within Israel have been killed by rockets.
At least five hit southern Israel on Tuesday, one of them injuring a baby.
Support for truce
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the French-Egyptian plan a "ceasefire that can endure and that can bring real security".
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, did not say whether Israel would accept the proposal but said it would take it "very, very seriously".
| GAZA CRISIS BACKGROUND  |
The contours of a possible diplomatic agreement are in place, the BBC's Laura Trevelyan reports from the UN.
However, if Israel continues to control the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and can choose to stop it at any time this seems unlikely to command the support of Hamas, our correspondent notes.
Andrew Whitley of the UN relief agency Unwra told the BBC that any relief in the conditions of the people of Gaza could only be a good thing.
"People have been weakened by 18 months of blockade and siege. They've been getting very little food, electricity or heat for a long time, and so they are in a very weakened condition," he said.
Casualty claims in Gaza cannot be independently verified. Israel is refusing to let international journalists into Gaza, despite a supreme court ruling to allow a limited number of reporters to enter the territory.
Are you or your friends or family in the region affected by the violence? Tell us your experiences by using the form below.
In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk, text them to +44 7725 100 100 or if you have a large file you can upload here.
Read the terms and conditions.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.
The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Israel 'agrees Gaza aid corridor'
Israel 'agrees Gaza aid corridor'
 Aid workers in Gaza are having trouble distributing existing food supplies |
Israel has agreed to set up a "humanitarian corridor" in the Gaza Strip, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said.
Under the plan, the Israeli military would suspend attacks in specified areas to allow Palestinians to stock on supplies, it said in a statement.
It said the move was an attempt to "prevent a humanitarian crisis".
The UN Security Council is currently meeting in New York to discuss a resolution on the Israeli offensive.
Israel 'agrees Gaza aid corridor'
Israel 'agrees Gaza aid corridor'
| Aid workers in Gaza are having trouble distributing existing food supplies |
Israel has agreed to set up a "humanitarian corridor" in the Gaza Strip, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said.
Under the plan, the Israeli military would suspend attacks in specified areas to allow Palestinians to stock on supplies, it said in a statement.
It said the move was an attempt to "prevent a humanitarian crisis".
The UN Security Council is currently meeting in New York to discuss a resolution on the Israeli offensive.
Israel 'agrees Gaza aid corridor'
Israel 'agrees Gaza aid corridor'
| Aid workers in Gaza are having trouble distributing existing food supplies |
Israel has agreed to set up a "humanitarian corridor" in the Gaza Strip, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said.
Under the plan, the Israeli military would suspend attacks in specified areas to allow Palestinians to stock on supplies, it said in a statement.
It said the move was an attempt to "prevent a humanitarian crisis".
The UN Security Council is currently meeting in New York to discuss a resolution on the Israeli offensive.
Europe's reliance on Russian gas
Europe's reliance on Russian gas
| By Andrew Walker Economics correspondent, BBC World Service |
 Turned-off taps have caused gas shortages in Europe |
The latest developments in the dispute over the price Ukraine pays Russia for its gas has yet again affected deliveries to other countries.
Several countries in Europe have reported a sharp decline or even complete cessation of gas supplies from Russia via pipelines through Ukraine.
This has reinforced unease in Europe about the important role that Russia has a supplier of gas.
A quarter of the gas used in the European Union (EU) comes from Russia.
And that share will rise.
Increasingly dominant
Europe's need for gas is likely to increase.
|  Europe's gas pipeline network  |
Enlarge MapEconomic growth, when it resumes after the current recession, will mean more demand for electricity.
Gas accounts for about a fifth of the EU's electricity and the share is likely to grow, partly because gas produces less by way of greenhouse gas emissions than coal or oil.
The EU does have other suppliers, including Norway and Algeria by pipeline, and Qatar and Algeria, again, by ship.
But Russia, with the world's largest gas reserves and an extensive network of pipelines to Europe, is likely to be increasingly dominant.
Soviet legacy
The EU, unless it drastically changes its energy strategy, will need Russia.
| EU GAS IMPORTS FROM RUSSIA 100% dependent on Russia: Latvia, Slovakia, Finland, Estonia More than 80% dependent: Bulgaria, Lithuania, Czech Republic More than 60% dependent: Greece, Austria, Hungary Source: European Council on Foreign Relations, 2006 figures |
But Russia in turn needs Europe to buy its gas, and also its oil.
So it is not in Russia's interest for Europe to become more wary of using gas as an energy source.
So far the disturbances to EU supplies have been a side effect of the recurrent dispute between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides blaming the other for the reduced supplies to the west.
The quarrels are a legacy of the end of the Soviet Union.
Ukraine has been receiving relatively cheap gas.
Russia's Gazprom wants to charge more, and the negotiations are complicated further by questions about what fees Ukraine should receive for gas crossing its territory.
Some European countries are protected with substantial stocks to cover any supply disruptions for many weeks, although some, such as Bulgaria have very little cover.
The disruptions also reinforce the attractions of developing new pipelines that avoid potential problem areas.
Have you been affected? Are you worried by the crisis?
Send your comments using the post form below.
In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below.
The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.
Tech show bucks global downturn
Tech show bucks global downturn
| By Mark Ward Technology correspondent, BBC News, Las Vegas |
 More than 130,000 people are expected to travel to Las Vegas for CES |
The global economic downturn has not put many people off attending this week's Consumer Electronics Show.
About 130,000 people are expected to travel to Las Vegas for the show.
The show is the highlight of the hi-tech calendar and is a showcase for top gadgets of 2009.
"It will be a bright spot compared to the uncertainty in the rest of the economy," said Gary Shapiro, head of the Consumer Electronics Association that stages CES.
Better times
Mr Shapiro said he expected the 2009 show to be among the top two or three in terms of attendees and exhibitors.
In 2008 attendance was slightly higher at 140,000 but, said Mr Shapiro, the number of exhibitors at CES had held steady despite the wider economic woe.
"I think we will see positive feelings there," he said.
The 2009 show will see more than 2,700 companies showing off their wares across more than 1.7m square feet of exhibition space.
It is not clear how positive these statistics are because most firms paid well in advance for their stand space - most long before the global economic slowdown made itself felt.
Downturn
In previous years Microsoft founder Bill Gates has opened the show but in 2009 Steve Ballmer, Microsoft chief executive, will take on the task, delivering the keynote which will kick off the show on 7 January.
With rumours of Microsoft about to announce significant layoffs the opening keynote could sound a sour note.
But, said Mr Shapiro, the technology industry had survived many previous downturns.
"They always seems like the worst when you are experiencing them," he said. "But as a tech industry we are doing very well and people want to buy things and want to invest."
He predicted that the technology industry would do well during the downturn as companies look to innovative products, be they in software or hardware, to cut costs and help their employees do more with less.
"Industry leaders come because they want to see how the technology will be changing their business, he said.
Location, location
The show, said Mr Shapiro, reflected some of those larger themes with areas set aside for green products and those to do with sustainable development.
Other big themes for the show included a big focus on mobile video, location services via handsets as well as net access and broadcast technologies for cars.
Said Mr Shapiro: "The bottom line of it is internet on the go."
Alongside this will be exhibitors showing off technologies that unite many different technologies or that try to make familiar ones easier to use.
For instance, he said, CES will see firms showing off software and services that make it easier to get more out of a TV, camcorder or other handheld device.
"And," he said, "there are always bigger, brighter screens."
CES is well known as a showcase for new display technologies and the 2009 show is expected to see the appearance of many more Organic LED screens as well as many 3D TV and film technologies.
India truck strike over fuel cost
India truck strike over fuel cost
 Truckers are also protesting against toll taxes |
A transport strike is beginning to bite in India with operators pulling millions of trucks off the roads to demand a lowering of diesel prices.
The operators are also protesting against "steep" road tolls imposed by the government.
Talks with the government broke down over the weekend and up to six million trucks went off the roads as the indefinite strike began on Monday.
A prolonged strike could push up costs of essential goods, analysts say.
Inflation
Truck operators say they have been hit hard by the rising oil prices and the economic slowdown.
"We are on an indefinite strike until our demands are met," news agency Reuters quoted Charan Singh Lohara, president of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), as saying.
The organisation says it represents six million trucks in India.
"The government is giving concessions and bailout packages to so many industries. Why not us when we are struggling to repay loans with high fuel prices, high prices of tyres and numerous taxes?" he asked.
It is too early for the strike to have had any firm impact, but if the protest continues, prices of essential goods are likely to rise, correspondents say.
Indian consumers are yet to recover from last year's high inflation figures which reached double digits a few months ago before coming down in the past few weeks.