BBC news 2009-01-13 加文本

BBC News with Marian Marshall.

Russia says it will resume gas supplies through Ukraine to Europe where hundreds of thousands of people have been left without heat in freezing temperatures. The state-run energy company Gazprom said supplies would resume on Tuesday morning if there were no obstacles. From Brussels, Oana Lungescu reports.

The EU Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, said he'd received guarantees that gas could reach European consumers through Ukraine within 24 hours. If not, he warned, the EU would be able to say who is responsible as over 20 observers are starting to monitor the flow of the gas. But the underlying cause of the crisis, Russia's price dispute with Ukraine remains to be solved and Europe is only starting to draw the lessons.

President Bush says the most urgent threat facing his successor Barack Obama is a potential terrorist attack on the United States rather than the current economic crisis. Mr. Bush said there were still some people who wanted to inflict damage on America. Kevin Connolly reports from Washington.

For a man at the pinnacle of American power, George Bush could sometimes seem a little tongue-tied and unreflective in office. But even some of his critics have been struck by the graciousness with which he is handing on power to Barack Obama. At his final news conference, he emphasized repeatedly that he wanted Mr. Obama to succeed, and insisted his own record as a strong one, even though he leaves America in recession, in debt and at war on two fronts. He acknowledged mistakes and disappointments, such as not finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and prematurely declaring mission accomplished there.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has told Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas that fighting in the Gaza Strip must stop now. He said too many people had died and there had been too much civilians suffering. Laura Trevelyan reports.

Mr Ban will begin a diplomatic tour of the Middle East, going to visit the leaders of Egypt, Israel, Syria and the Palestinian president in Ramallah. He will be pressing for an immediate ceasefire and he says demonstrating his concern for the innocent, Palestinians and Israelis. UN officials say Mr. Ban would not be meeting representatives of Hamas. The secretary general says he is not sure whether he will go to Gaza.

Israel has continued its air and ground offensive there and Hamas says it's been involved in fighting with Israeli troops in several districts. The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said more than 40% of those killed since the start of the Israeli offensive were women and children.

The electoral authorities in Israel have banned two of the three main Arab parties from taking part in next month's parliamentary elections. Members of the Central Elections Committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of disqualifying the parties which, they alleged, were guilty of incitement and support for terrorism. An Israeli Arab member of parliament, Ahmad Tibi, denounced the move as racist and said he would submit an appeal to Israel's Supreme Court.

World News from the BBC.

The United States has imposed sanctions on people and companies linked to the former head of Pakistan's nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan. The State Department said 13 people and three private companies would be targeted . Mr. Khan has been under virtual house arrest since 2004 when he acknowledged being involved in the illicit nuclear technology trade.

The Italian Airline Alitalia has agreed to sell a 25% stake to one of its rivals Air France-KLM . Alitalia's new owners, a consortium of Italian businessmen, said the deal was worth nearly 430 million dollars. Italy's former national airline filed for bankruptcy in August last year and is to relaunch itself on Tuesday with fewer routes.

The International Monetary Fund has approved a financial rescue package for Belarus to help it cope with the global financial crisis. The IMF said the first part of the 2.5-billion-dollar package would be available immediately. Here's Andrew Walker.

In a statement, the IMF's Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. said that Belarus has been hit hard by the global crisis. Exports have been affected by falling demand from trading partners, and it's become more difficult to borrow abroad, that has led to a decline in the country's foreign exchange reserves. The financial crisis has prompted several IMF loans after a number of years in which its emergency assistance had not been needed. Since early November, Hungary, Ukraine, Iceland, Latvia and Pakistan have all had loans approved worth a total of 44 billion dollars.(www.hxen.net)

Football's world governing body, FIFA, has named Cristiano Ronaldo as World Player of the Year. The Portugal and Manchester United winner won the English Premier League, Champions League and World Club Cup with United last year. He is the first player based in England to win the award. He faced competition from Fernando Torres, Xavi Hernandez, Lionel Messi and last year's winner, Kaka. The women's award went to the Brazilian Marta for the third year running.