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Palestinians want quick UN cease-fire resolution

By EDITH M. LEDERER

Published: Jan 05, 2009

The Palestinians urged the U.N. Security Council on Monday to quickly adopt a resolution calling for an immediate end to Israeli attacks in Gaza and a permanent cease-fire, including international border monitors and an international force to protect civilians.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas planned to arrive in New York on Tuesday morning and hoped the council would adopt a revamped Arab-backed resolution in the afternoon, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki told reporters.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the United States, Israel's closest ally on the council, shared Arab concerns "about the urgency of the situation" and the goal of moving rapidly - but he warned against "false expectations."

He said it would take more than a "a day or so" to get "an enduring solution to the problem, an enduring cease-fire." More

Jan 05, 2009

• UN contradicts Israel over depth of crisis in Gaza

The United Nations said Monday there is an "increasingly alarming" humanitarian crisis in Gaza, directly contradicting Israeli denials that its offensive caused the growing problem.

Jan 05, 2009

• Israel rebuffs cease-fire calls as Gaza casualties rise

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and a European delegation Monday pleaded for Israel to call a temporary halt to its 10-day-old offensive in Gaza, but top Israeli leaders, with the explicit backing of President George W. Bush, made it clear that they aren't ready to end the fighting.

Jan 05, 2009

• Crisis takes toll on Gaza's seasoned doctors, medics

They come in waves, usually not long after a blast rattles the building or a black cloud of smoke rises up over the apartment buildings.

Jan 05, 2009

• Hemingway's Cuba papers available electronically

Cuba on Monday began accepting requests for electronic access to more than 3,000 documents from Ernest Hemingway's home on the island, including the unpublished epilogue of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and coded messages the author sent when using his yacht to hunt for German submarines during World War II.

Jan 05, 2009

• India asserts Mumbai attackers were supported within Pakistani state

India confronted Pakistan on Monday with a detailed dossier that it said showed that "elements from Pakistan" were behind the November terrorist assault on Mumbai and said it was inconceivable that no one in the Pakistani government knew of the plans.

Jan 05, 2009

• Israelis watch bombardment of Gaza town

A tower of white smoke rose from the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun after another Israeli bombardment Monday morning, and a half-dozen Israelis, perched on a dusty hilltop, gazed at the scene like armchair military strategists.

Jan 05, 2009

• Wanted: Border monitors to oversee Gaza truce

The contours of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas are emerging, with diplomacy focusing on international guarantees, including foreign border monitors to oversee any agreement.

Jan 05, 2009

• Pirates attack French vessel off Nigerian coast

Pirates hijacked a French boat and took its nine crew members hostage in the latest attack in some of the world's most dangerous waters off oil-rich southern Nigeria, the boat's owner said Monday.

Jan 05, 2009

• Mammoth new U.S. Embassy a symbol of a ‘new era' in Iraq

The U.S. flag was raised Monday over the mammoth new American Embassy in Iraq, symbolizing a new era of restored Iraqi sovereignty and reduced U.S. power, despite the fact that it's the biggest American mission on Earth.

Jan 05, 2009

• France tries accused 9/11 plotter in Tunisia blast

A European convert to Islam allegedly caught on camera beside Osama bin Laden denied Monday any role in a 2002 suicide attack on a Tunisian synagogue allegedly ordered by the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

Jan 05, 2009

• Police: Mexican woman in wheelchair flees on foot

Police say a woman who begged from a wheelchair was caught running from a crime scene on foot in Monterrey, Mexico. Police spokeswoman Sidlayin Robles says 30-year-old Ana Victoria Perez fled on foot after she and her husband allegedly threw a stone through the front window of a furniture store.

Jan 05, 2009

• Turkey restores citizenship of celebrated poet

Turkey restored the citizenship of its most famous poet Monday in a symbolic step meant to show it was addressing criticism of its human rights record in hopes of joining the European Union.

Jan 05, 2009

• Gaza hospital overwhelmed by dead, wounded

Wailing in grief, Salah Samouni banged his head against a wall inside the hospital morgue where the bodies of his three young nephews lay on the floor Monday.

Jan 05, 2009

• Fear so deep

Baghdad is living better days than the last three years but fear and doubt still control many.

Jan 05, 2009

• Victims of Blackwater shooting await guards' trial

Iraqis wounded by gunfire in a Baghdad square 15 months ago are awaiting with guarded hopes the beginning of court proceedings against five former private Blackwater Worldwide security guards.

Jan 05, 2009

• Iran says 70,000 volunteer for Israel fight

More than 70,000 Iranian students have volunteered to carry out suicide bombings against Israel, Iran's state news agency reported Monday, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not responded to their request for permission.

Jan 05, 2009

• Blast hits British Columbia natural gas facility

An explosion at a natural gas facility in northeastern British Columbia forced the site to shut down,in what appeared to be the fourth attack in four months on one of Canada's largest energy companies.

Jan 05, 2009

• Frustrated reporters locked out of Gaza war zone

Israel scrapped arrangements Monday to allow the first foreign reporters into the Gaza Strip since the military launched its offensive against Palestinian militants, adding to mounting media frustration at being locked out of the war zone.

Jan 05, 2009

• China targets Google in pornography crackdown

China warned Google and other popular Web portals Monday that they must do more to block pornographic material from reaching Chinese users, the latest in a series of government crackdowns targeting Internet content.

Jan 05, 2009

• Diplomats seek truce as Gaza's civilian toll rises

Israel's expanding ground and air offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers took a heavy civilian toll Monday, including three young brothers reported killed by a crashing shell and wounded who filled hospital corridors.

Jan 05, 2009

• Civilian casualties rise as Israel encircles Gaza City

JERUSALEM - Israel's military push to cripple Hamas rulers in the Gaza Strip claimed more civilian lives Monday as European leaders renewed a push to bring the 10-day-old conflict to a swift end.

Jan 05, 2009

• US ambassador: 2009 key year for Iraq

Iraq has made tremendous progress in recent months but the United States must remain engaged over the long term if it wants those gains to solidify, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq said.

Jan 05, 2009

• Guatemalan mudslide kills 35, injures 15

A massive landslide tore down the side of a mountain and buried a highway in northern Guatemala, killing nearly three dozen people and leaving rescue workers frantically digging for more victims Monday.

Jan 05, 2009

• Concerns of civilian deaths rise in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan forces overran another village Monday and moved closer to seizing a strategic base from the Tamil Tigers, but concerns are mounting for the hundreds of thousands of civilians living in the rebels' shrinking territory.

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