Monday, January 19, 2009

Today's Update

- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit Gaza on Tuesday, as Israel pledged to withdraw all its forces in the area before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Obama. Total Palestinian casualties from the war were reported at 1,300, with at least 700 civilians among the dead.

- Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement over natural gas flows through the latter nation, allowing gas supplies to flow to the rest of Europe after a 2-week energy impasse

- Negotiations over a power-sharing arrangement between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai are being mediated by the South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, while the nation-wide cholera crisis continues