BBC news 2009-01-16 加文本

BBC News with Michael Poles.

Israeli tanks and troops have advanced deep into Gaza City. Israeli gunfire struck at least one hospital, a United Nations compound, high-rise apartments, and a building housing journalists. The UN said its compound had been sheltering 700 civilians. The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said it was targeted after militants opened fire from there. Adam Mynott reports from Jerusalem.

Israeli forces in tanks and armed personnel carriers moved into some of the more densely populated areas of Gaza City, and with artillery and air strikes, attacked more than 70 targets. Hamas officials revealed that one of their top leaders, the Interior Minister Said Sayyam, was killed in one of the Israeli assaults. He was considered to be among the five most important Hamas figures. The head of Hamas security apparatus and a senior military commander were also killed in the attack. It is not clear what impact these deaths might have on negotiated moves towards a ceasefire.

A top Israeli official Amos Gilad has been in Cairo where the Egyptians have been conducting the ceasefire talks. The Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Mr. Gilad would brief Israeli leaders on his return. They would then decide on the ceasefire proposal. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said he expected an Israeli decision by the end of the day.

An airliner with about 150 people on board has crashed into the Hudson River of the city of New York. The plane, an Airbus A320, was left floating in the bitterly cold water with passengers scrambling onto its wings. Richard Lister reports.

Television pictures show several passengers standing on the wings of the aircraft wearing yellow life-jackets as ferries and other commercial vessels converged on the scene. A number of people have already been rescued from the aircraft. It’s thought to be a US Airways A320 passenger plane. Local media are reporting that the aircraft took off from the LaGuardia Airport in New York City on route to Charlotte, North Carolina. The pilot has reported to have radioed the control tower that his plane had hit a flock of birds and was damaged severely enough that he needed to return to the airport.

The European Central Bank has cut its main interest rate to 2% in a move to protect the continent’s economies from some of the effects of deeper recession. This is the fourth cut by the ECB since October, and brings the bank’s main rates to its lowest ever level. Analysts say further cuts can be expected. Here’s our business reporter Mark Gregory.

The cut is a sign of mounting concern about continental European economies which may be heading for a downturn as deep as that already affecting the United States and Britain. Last month, the European Monetary Authority slashed rates by three quarters of a percent --- its biggest ever such reduction. With inflation now below 2% a year in countries with the Euro currency, the bank has scope for action on rates to stimulate the economy.

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The British Defense Secretary John Hutton has sharply criticized other European countries in NATO, saying they are not doing enough to help fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. Mr. Hutton accused them of expecting the United States to do all the work in the Afghan conflict. He said warm words of support for the Afghan government were not enough; other European states needed to send more troops.

The man appointed to replace Barack Obama in the US Senate, Roland Burris, has taken his seat just over a week after being turned away by his fellow Democrats who control the upper house of Congress. Mr. Burris was applauded by his new colleagues as he was sworn in as the junior Senator for Illinois. He was appointed by the State Governor Rod Blagojevich, who’s been impeached over accusations that he tried to sell the president-elect's former seat to the highest bidder.

Scientists have found new evidence of methane gas and water vapor in the atmosphere of the planet Mars, which they said, may have been produced by living organisms. The researchers from NASA stressed that the discovery is not definite evidence of life on Mars. Rob Norris reports.

The scientists trained three highly powerful infrared telescopes onto the surface of the Mars for seven years, and found large plumes of methane coming from beneath the crust of the planet. They believe the gas could have been produced by microbes, very small living organisms which may now be extinct. Another possible explanation is that the gas might have formed as a result of volcanic activity. NASA is due to send a small robotic roving laboratory to Mars in 2012 to examine the gas more closely.

The top American envoy for East Asia and the Pacific has dampened speculation that the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is suffering from ill health. Christopher Hill said that to the best of his knowledge, Mr. Kim was doing better since apparently suffering a stroke last year. But he added that his illness had brought the issue of his successor into focus. Mr. Kim was rarely seen in public since his reported stroke.(www.hXen.com)