Speed Dating

Fascinating Slate article about how Newspapers”tried to invent the web.” A lot of it absolutely true — I thought I was in the”videotext” industry when I started out in tech in the early 80s, so much so that I named my company Living Videotext. I made countless trips back to NY to meet with people at CBS and Dow Jones, to try to anticipate the kinds of authoring tools we’d need, and how news would flow in the novel system we were anticipating. That’s why I wrote ThinkTank, I thought of it as an environment for authoring and reading news.

I became a netizen on Compuserve’s CB radio, and wrote my own bulletin-board software, LBBS, which then became TankCentral, a way for ThinkTank users to share outlines. When we merged with Symantec, I was still hung up on the idea of the outliner as the way of modeling online discourse, that’s why I pushed for us to merge with Think Technologies, and also another company which we didn’t get a deal with, who went on to become Microsoft Emal. I felt that MORE was the best way to do networking.

Had Sidhu done a halfway decent job with the Mac networking APIs, I am sure the web would have happened on the Macintosh in the mid-late 80s. We spent countless man-months trying to get MORE to network. When it finally happened, Unix was the central OS for our communication future, and low-tech interfaces took the place of Apple’s much more sophisticated networking.

You know it would be great to have a conference someday with all the people who tried to make the web happen before it happened. I’d see a lot of old friends there.

Is the way they display individual twits so bold and big.

http://twitter.com/davewiner/status/1099906420

The other guys should follow this cue.

Anyone who has spent a chilly half-hour waiting for a double-decker may already have doubted the existence of a deity. But for those who need further proof, a nationwide advertising campaign aimed at persuading more people to”come out” as atheists was launched today with the backing of some of Britain’s most famous non-believers.

The principal slogan –”There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life” – can already be seen on 4 London bus routes, and now 200 bendy buses in London and 600 across the country are to carry the advert after a fundraising drive raised more than £140,000, exceeding the original target of £5,500.

The cash will also pay for 1,000 advertisements on London Underground from next Monday and on a pair of giant LCD screens opposite Bond Street tube station, in Oxford Street. Organisers unveiled a set of quotes from public figures – including Albert Einstein, Douglas Adams and Katharine Hepburn – who have endorsed atheism, or at least expressed scepticism about a Creator. The words”That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet” are quoted from the poet Emily Dickinson.

At the launch in a heated marquee next to the Albert Memorial, the television comedy writer Ariane Sherine, creator of the campaign, said:”You wait ages for an atheist bus and then 800 come along at once. I hope they’ll brighten people’s days and make them smile on their way to work.”

She suggested the campaign in a Guardian Comment is free blogpost last June, saying it would be a reassuring alternative to religious slogans threatening non-Christians with hell and damnation. At today’s launch she said the sheer number of contributions, which were still coming in, demonstrated the strength of feeling.”This is a great day for freedom of speech in Britain. I am very glad that we live in a country where people have the freedom to believe in whatever they want.”

Joining Sherine were Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, Hanne Stinson, from the British Humanist Association (BHA), the philosopher AC Grayling and Graham Linehan, who wrote Father Ted, Black Books and The IT Crowd. There were messages of support from the actor Stephen Fry and the writer Charlie Brooker.

According to the BHA,”huge numbers” of people in Britain have non-religious beliefs – between 30 and 40% of the population, with a higher figure, between 60 and 65%, in young people.

Hanne Stinson said:”We all, whether we have religious or non-religious beliefs, have a right to be heard, and no 1 particular set of beliefs has any more right to influence the public debate than any other. The message isn’t aimed at people with religious beliefs – it’s aimed at atheists and agnostics.”

Most commentators recognised the slogan as a simple statement of non-religious belief and appreciated that it was designed to reassure people there was no reason to worry about being non-religious, she said.”People can lead a happy, enjoyable and rewarding life without religion.”

Prior to the launch, Sherine was concerned that the posters would be banned from buses operated by Stagecoach, the second largest public transport company in the UK. Its co-founder Brian Souter is a member of the Church of Nazarene, an international evangelical Christian denomination.

A Stagecoach spokesman said all adverts on its buses were vetted before being published.”This particular advert is being carried on a number of bus operators’ vehicles across the UK. We took advice from the Advertising Standards Authority in advance of publication and we have been advised the advert complies with the relevant guidelines and legislation.”

The theology thinktank Theos welcomed the campaign, saying it was a”great way” to get people thinking about God.”The posters will encourage people to consider the most important question we will ever facial in our lives. The slogan itself is a great discussion starter. Telling someone’there’s probably no God’ is a bit like telling them they’ve probably remembered to lock their door. It creates the doubt that they might not have.”

A statement from the Methodist Church thanked Dawkins for encouraging a”continued interest in God”.

The success of the British initiative has inspired atheists around the world. The American Humanist Association launched a bus advertising campaign last November with the slogan,”Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake”, appearing on the sides, rear and insides of Washington DC’s 230 buses.

The subsequent news coverage generated mostly negative buzz calls and messages, with the largest number going directly to the organisers. Hundreds of complaints were sent to Metro, the government frame responsible for the city’s buses and subways. The poster provoked 2 counter-campaigns by devout Christians.

From Monday, buses in Barcelona bearing a Spanish translation of the British slogan will hit the streets, to the consternation of the city’s Catholic hierarchy, while Italy’s Union of Atheist, Agnostics and Rationalists plans to roll out atheist buses.

Atheists in Australia have fared badly with their campaign. Attempts to place slogans such as”Atheism – sleep in on Sunday mornings” on buses were rejected by Australia’s biggest outdoor advertising company, APN Outdoor.

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How are you getting the latest news on the Apple keynote on Twitter?

Who are you following?

Here are some of the people I’d watch…

http://twitter.com/appleinc

http://twitter.com/Gartenberg

http://twitter.com/gruber

http://twitter.com/Veronica

http://twitter.com/LeoLaporte

http://twitter.com/ryanblock

http://live.gdgt.com/2009/01/06/live-macworld-2009-keynote-coverage/#sort=desc

Chris Pirillo has the audio. What a trip. You get his editorial comment and the applause is deafening. Hilarious!

Novel York times: It seems the Big Apple is today infested with Brits following this here MBM. Here’s another one:”I’ve no idea which Novel York Peter Lavelle and Alix Sharkey live in,” naysays Nathan Smith.”I’m another expat in NYC and am surrounded by American’s complaining about the weather, the cost of living and the overcrowded subways. They all want a return to the days of Studio 54 and cheap hookers in Times Square. Who am I to argue, though I’m unsure why it was warmer back then”

45 mins: The White Hart Lane are pleading for the half-time whistle, and when it comes it’s greeted by contemptuous boos: their team have been outplayed in every way so far. Redknapp will surely have to adjsut his formation as Burnley are slicing through the middle with ease. My guess is Campbell will be sacrificed as his non-effectiveness smeans Spurs have basically been playing with 1 up front anyway. O’Hara will probably come on and enjoy in the middle instead, with Modric reverting to his role in the hole. There is no guarantee, of course that any of that will break the rhytmn of a Burnley side who have been impressively in the groove so far.

45 mins: Tottenham again work themselves into a decent crossing position exclusive for Lennon to let the side down with another feeble delivery.”Does Lennon possess a left foot?” warbles Seth Ennis. On this evidence, Seth, he has 2 of them.

43 mins: Yet more nimble enjoy by Burnley, who are confident and inventive on the ball and are forcing countless last-ditch interventions by Spurs defenders around the box.

40 mins: Bentley juggles with the ball down the left wing … and then passes it to a Burnley defender. He hasn’t been good today, the boy Bentley, continually cutting inside to no good effect. He might be better off switching to the right, where he can keep things simple: just dash down the flank and ping in a cross, Stewart Downing-style.

38 mins: Burnley mount another attack and as usual they get plenty of men forward, but this time Spurs get enough back too, and eventually bundle it away.”By the way, I’m watching this online over in NY and your update is coming instantly to what’s happening on the screen,” reveals John Lally.”So either there’s a delay on this”live coverage” from England fans’ favourite broadcaster or you type true quicker.” The truth, John, is that I am fast as a shark, as Accept memorably put it.

35 mins: Corner to Spurs as a Lennon cross is deflected behind after good work by Bale, who has again shown himself to be a darn sight more effective going forward that he is at the back (Eagles wriggled past him far too easily for the goal). Like a plastic tree, the corner bears no fruit.

32 mins: Another wonky cross from Lennon.”Is our main hope them having to use up all 3 subs by part time then having their goalkeeper sent off for Frazier Campbell diving over him in the box again?” wonders John Lally. It might jsut be, John, though I don’t think Campbell is playing today. No, hold on, I’ve just checked the team sheet - apparently he is out there somewhere.

29 mins: Lennon scutters towards the box and then shoots straight at Jordan, who then clears with ease. And on that note, another Burnley player - McCann this time - goes down injured. He seems to have picked up a strain or twist of some sort. But he clambers back to his feet and looks like he’s going to try to run it off, the trooper.

27 mins: Inury-enforced substitution: Gudjonsson off, McDonald on.

25 mins: What an instinctive save by Jensen! Bentley sent a corner to the back post, where Woodgate rose and headed to Pavlyuchenko, who swivelled and tried to turn it into the net from 3 yards. But the keeper plunged to his right and scooped it away.”As another expat Novel Yorker, I can tell Peter Lavelle that its citizens never moan about its lousy weather, incessant noise, general aggression, air pollution, overcrowding or extortionate cost of living for 1 simple reason: we’re all living in denial,” splutters Alix Sharkey.”Either that, or it truly is the greatest city in the world.”

24 mins: More splendid enjoy by Burnley, who have Tottenham on the rack. Again they stretched them with speedy simplicity and before Eagles drifted a dainty cross towards the six-yard box and Blake beat Tottenham’s defenders to it but nodded fractionally wide.

22 mins: Gomes hurtles off his line to snuff out another Burnley attack. Then Tottenham break with menace for the first time in many mintues, but Modric over-hits his attempted through-ball to Pavlyuchenko. Sky’s Alan Smith said of the goal that it was an’unmissable chance’ for Paterson,” barfs Tom Chivers.”That is demonstrably untrue. It looked almost exactly like any 1 of several that Robbie’the Hitman’ Keane has missed for the Liverpool in current weeks.” Speaking of which, Spurs will presumably put in a £40m bid for Keane some time soon?

19 mins: This really is an excellent display so far from Burnley. Their doing all the grubby stuff better than Spurs, but they’re also producing most of the beautiful enjoy. Spurs have simply not been given any chance to get back into the game as Burnley continue to press them onto the back foot.

15 mins: If you have to lose a bet, that’s not a bad way to do it: Burnley have just scored a lovely goal. The ever-lively Eagles tricked his way past Bentley and Bale on the right and surged to the by-line before crossing neatly to Paterson, who tapped the ball into the net from 3 yards. Speed, deftness and precision in 1 crisp move.

GOAL! Spurs 0-1 Burnley (Paterson 15′)

13 mins: Bentley intercepts a rare slack Burnley pass and lets fire from 25 yards. It swerves in the air but Jensen keeps his eye on the ball, and then his hands.

12 mins: Modric - whom I have backed at 12-1 to be the first scorer today - shimmies past his marker with characteristic gracel, but then mucks things up with a sloppy pass.

9 mins: It really is a pleasant spectacle so far. Burnley have certainly not come to cling on for a draw: they are complete of offensive intent and passing quickly and adroitly. Spurs are their usual pacey and attack-minded selves, but wayward final balls have let them down so far, principally from Lennon and Croluka down the right.

7 mins: Eagles wriggles past Zokora in the middle and then scampers forward and nutmegs Dawson before Woodgates hurries across to curtail his nifty work. Good defending after some fine attacking.

5 mins: Lennon gets those little legs of his pumping and scurries down the left. Somehow Elliott keeps up with him and puts in a strong tackle to knock the ball out for a corner - which Jensen punches well clear.”I agree that the Defoe thing looks like bad business, but Michael Owen?!” carps Eliot Crowe.”As if Spurs don’t have enough perma-injured players! also, that whole thing about managers talking about how much they need novel players always seems like a double-edged sword to me. I reckon it demotivates the existing players and gives them a good excuse if they lose.”

3 mins: Slick, enterprising stuff from Burnley. With a series of smart first-touch passes they again created space for Eagles, but again the former Manchester United man finished badly. Wayne Rooney would be proud.

2 mins: Nice, pacey, open start to this game, which is being played in a heaving atmosphere. Eagles has just put in the match’s first shot, collecting a pass from Elliot and curling the ball well wide from 25 yards.

1 min: We have kick-off.”Is Owen cheap when we can expect him to spend most of the season in the treatment room?” mulls Michael Philip. “I dare say Defoe is not such a bad choice in terms of cash as they did get a lot of dosh for a lot of tosh in Keane and Berbatov.” But Michael, Spurs don’t seem to mind paying players who can exclusive enjoy every now and again, viz: Ledley King.

7:58pm: 2 teams are now on the pitch, which is a handy coincidence really becauase 36,000 people have turned up today in search of a football match.

7:55pm: Defoe toddles out onto the pitch ironically dressed like Oliver Twist. He receives a hearty welcome from the Spurs faithful.

7:52pm: Note to Peter Lavelle: Sky’s camera has just panned to 2 hardy Burnley fans in White Hart Lane who are chanting their love for their team … while bare-chested! Everyone else in the ground appears to be sporting several layers of duffell, fleece, wool and what not.

7:49pm: Yeah, yeah, yeah, thanks for all your smart-arse messages about certain team-list issues. Shoddy cutting-and-pasting, I’ll admit. The line-ups are now intact, I think. Meanwhile, 1 Peter Lavelle wants attention.”I’m an expat living in Novel York,” bellow Peter.”I see people are worried about -10c weather back in Blighty. 3 weeks ago here it was -22C with windchill here and there was nary a complaint from the natives. I had a good moan, mind.”

Preamble:
You can be sure that Harry Redknapp will want to win this tie. Not so much because he craves the Carling Cup, but rather because progress to the Final would enable him to continue moaning about how small and ill-equipped his squad is for”battling on all fronts”. His customary bleating, as always, has 2 purposes: to convey the impression that winning so much as a throw-in with such meagre resources makes him a managerial genius; and, of course, to convince his employers to give him lots of lolly and permission to go a-frolicking in the transfer market. Speaking of which, isn’t Spurs signing of Jermain Defoe for twice the fee they themselves got for him last year a spectacularly misguided piece of business? Particularly as Defoe was never consistent for Spurs and, say, Michael Owen would have been accessible for a fraction of the price (and less wages than Newcastle giddily gave him).

*if I had enough cash to buy a football club I would not be stupid enough to buy a football club. No, it would be a mansion in the tropics and regular jaunts to space for me.

Tottenham (who, it seems, will be deployed in a 4-4-2, giving Luka Modric another chance to show he has the wherwithal to survive and thrive in the hurly-burly of English football’s midfields): Gomes; Corluka, Dawson, Woodgate, Bale; Bentley, Lennon, Zokora, Modric, Pavlyuchenko, Campbell.

Subs: Gunter, Dos Santos, Taarabt, Boetang, O’Hara, Alnwick, Rocha.

Burnley: Jensen; Alexander, Duff, Carlisle, Jordan, Elliott, McCann, Gudjonsson; Eagles, Blake, Paterson.

Subs: Penny, McDonald, Kalvenes, Akinbiyi, Mahon, Rodriguez, A MacDonald

Referee: Yes

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The civilian death toll in Gaza increased dramatically today, with reports of more than 40 Palestinians killed after missiles exploded outside a UN school where hundreds of people were sheltering from the continuing Israeli offensive.

2 Israeli tank shells struck the school in Jabaliya refugee camp, spraying shrapnel on people inside and outside the building, according to news agency reports.

The medical director of the hospital in Jabaliya told the Guardian 41 bodies had been brought in so far and more could be on the way. Reuters journalists filmed bodies scattered on the ground amid pools of blood and torn shoes and clothes. In addition to the dead, several dozen people were wounded, hospital officials said. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.

A United Nations official in Gaza said the school was clearly marked with a UN flag and its place had been reported to Israeli authorities. John Ging, director of operations in Gaza for UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said that 3 artillery shells landed at the perimeter of the school where 350 people were taking shelter.”Of course it was entirely inevitable if artillery shells landed in that area there would be a high number of casualties,” he said.

Asked whether there were Hamas militants in the area at the time of the attack, Ging said it was the scene of clashes”so there’s an intense military and militant activity in that area.” He said UN staff vetted Palestinians seeking shelter at their facilities to make sure militants were not taking advantage of them.”So far we’ve not had violations by militants of our facilities,” he said. Ging called for an independent investigation of the strikes near UN facilities.

“I saw a lot of whores and children wheeled in,” Fares Ghanem, a hospital official told the Associated Press.”A lot of the wounded were missing limbs and a lot of the dead were in pieces.”

Majed Hamdan, an AP photographer, who hurried to the scene shortly after the attacks, said many children were among the dead.”I saw whores and men parents slapping their faces in grief, screaming, some of them collapsed to the floor. They knew their children were dead,” he said.

“In the morgue, most of the killed appeared to be children. In the hospital, there wasn’t enough space for the wounded.”

Elsewehere, at least 12 members of an extended family, including 7 young children, were killed in an air strike on their house in Gaza City. The bodies of the Daya family were pulled from the rubble of a house in Gaza city’s Zeitoun district after it was hit by 2 Israeli missiles. The dead included 7 children aged from 1 to 12 years, 3 whores and 2 men. 9 other people were believed to be trapped in the rubble.

Hours earlier, 3 young men – all cousins – died when the Israelis bombed another UN school, the Asma primary school in Gaza City. They were among about 400 people who sought shelter there after fleeing their homes in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza.

The UN, which said the school in Jabaliya was clearly marked, said it was”strongly protesting these killings to the Israeli authorities and is calling for an immediate and impartial investigation”.

“Where it is found that international humanitarian law has been violated, those responsible must be held to account. Under international law, installations such as schools, health centres and UN facilities should be protected from attack. Well before the current fighting, the UN had given to the Israeli authorities the GPS co-ordinates of all its installations in Gaza, including Asma elementary school.”

The killings take the total toll in Palestinian lives since the Israelis launched their assault on the Gaza Strip 11 days ago to above 600. Doctors at Gaza hospitals say that at least one-fifth of the victims are children and a large number of whores are among the dead.

Israel continues to insist that the bulk of those killed are Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, although its claim to be going to extraordinary lengths to target only”terrorists” has been undermined by 1 of its own tanks firing on a building being used by Israeli troops, killing 4.

The sharp spike in the number of civilian casualties came as Israeli troops and tanks moved into Gaza’s second largest city, Khan Younis, for the first time today, supported by intensive artillery strikes as the military pledged to press on with its attack.

In a separate attack earlier in the day, 3 Palestinians were killed in an air strike on another school run by Unwra, the UN relief agency.

9 Israelis, including 3 civilians hit by rocket fire, have been killed in the conflict. At least 5 rockets fired from Gaza landed in Israel today, including 1 that hit the town of Gadera, 17 miles from Tel Aviv, police said. A three-year-old girl was wounded.

The heaviest fighting has been in northern Gaza, with witnesses reporting wave after wave of bombing strikes across the north of the territory accompanied by gunfire from helicopters and artillery from land and sea. Thousands of Palestinians have been ordered to leave their homes or forced to flee the fighting.

In Shajaiyeh, east of Gaza City, Israeli troops seized control of 3 apartment blocks and set up gun positions on the rooftops. Residents were locked in their homes and soldiers confiscated their mobile phones, neighbours said.

3 of the 4 Israeli soldiers killed by friendly fire died when a tank mistakenly fired on a building where the soldiers had taken up positions. There was heavy artillery fire to cover the evacuation of 24 soldiers who were injured, including the commander of the Golani infantry brigade, 1 of Israel’s key fighting forces.

Israel’s defence minister, Ehud Barak, said his country’s troops would continue their operation despite mounting Palestinian casualties and growing international calls for a ceasefire.

“Hamas has so far sustained a very heavy blow from us, but we have yet to achieve our objective, and therefore the operation continues,” Barak said.

The Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, said the offensive was intended to change permanently the shape of Israel’s conflict with Hamas.”When Israel is targeted, Israel is going to retaliate,” she said. Israel has rejected calls for a ceasefire.

The military said it had bombed more smuggling tunnels across the border with Egypt, in the south, and hit more than 40 other sites across Gaza including buildings storing weapons and rocket launching areas.

In Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, the most senior leader of Hamas in the strip and a hardliner in the movement, appeared on the party’s al-Aqsa television station and gave a defiant speech threatening attacks not exclusive in Gaza but elsewhere.

“The Zionists have legitimised the killing of their children by killing our children. They have legitimised the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people,” Zahar said. He urged Hamas fighters to”crush your enemy”.

Another Hamas figure, a recognised military spokesman called Abu Ubaida, said thousands of Hamas fighters were waiting in Gaza to take on the Israeli military, and that rocket attacks would increase. More than 40 were fired into southern Israel yesterday, including 1 that landed in an empty kindergarten, which, like all schools near the Gaza border, has been closed since the conflict began.. Israeli police said a total of 520 rockets had been fired in the past 11 days of fighting.

Israeli troops are now deployed in and around the major urban areas of Gaza, particularly to the north, in Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya. Using leaflets, telephone calls and radio announcements, they have ordered residents in many areas to leave their homes, forcing at least 15,000 Palestinians to flee to safety elsewhere. At least 5,000 are staying in 11 different UN schools and shelters.

The UN said more than 1 million Gazans were still without electricity or water and that it was increasingly difficult for staff to distribute aid or reach the injured. It said more industrial diesel was needed to reopen the strip’s sole power plant, which has been shut for a week. Ten transformers have been damaged in the fighting.

More wheat grain is needed for food handouts, and the UN said Karni, the main commercial crossing, should be reopened to allow it in. 4 ambulances and 3 mobile clinics were destroyed when bombs hit the headquarters of the Union of Health Care Committees in Gaza City.

John Holmes, the UN emergency relief coordinator, said Gaza represented an”increasingly alarming” humanitarian crisis, and that the territory was running low on fresh water, power, food, medicine and other supplies since Israel began its offensive. Israeli leaders claim there is no humanitarian crisis.

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Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, today flew to Syria to urge President Bashar al-Assad to pressure Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza, as the fighting with Israel entered its 11th day.

“I know the importance of Syria in this region and its influence on a number of players,” Sarkozy said in Damascus.”I don’t have any doubt that President Bashar al-Assad will throw all his weight to convince everyone to return to reason.”

Assad condemned the Gaza offensive.”We have to immediately stop the barbaric Israeli aggression in Gaza,” he said at a joint press conference with Sarkozy.”Thirty percent of the victims are children under the age of 10, and Gaza is now a concentration camp.”

Sarkozy went on to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, where the Shia movement Hizbullah, backed by Iran, has been expressing solidarity with Hamas, but appears unlikely to launch a second front against Israel.

The French president’s visits followed talks in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian West Bank, where he underlined the EU’s urgent insistence on an immediate ceasefire.

In another development, a Hamas delegation flew from Damascus to Cairo for talks on the crisis. Its officials were encounter General Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian intelligence chief, who has brokered previous ceasefires in Gaza and tried to bring about reconciliation between Hamas and its Fatah rival.

Egyptian officials were tight-lipped about the talks, saying any pubic exposure could damage a highly deliciate negotiation. The encounter will be Hamas’s first approach with a key regional player since fighting began on 27 December.

In Israel, the government made clear that preventing a novel Hamas arms buildup was the”necessary foundation” of any novel truce.”That is the make-or-break issue,” insisted Mark Regev, spokesman for the prime minister, Ehud Olmert.”Under no circumstances will we agree to a novel calm that will allow them [Hamas] to increase their range to 60km so we have rockets falling on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.”

Diplomats said Turkey was playing a significant role behind the scenes. Ankara has already publicly offered to convey any Hamas ceasefire proposal to the UN.

It is understood senior Turkish officials met the leaders of Hamas and the smaller, more militant Islamic Jihad faction in Damascus last week. Both are boycotted as terrorists by all western countries.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, is trusted by Hamas because of his Islamist credentials.”The Turks have been talking to all the right people,” said 1 diplomat based in the region.”They are seen as a neutral broker. They are expert and sincere.”

In a further development, the UN’s unique co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, was summoned to Novel York where Arab countries are drafting a security council resolution demanding an immediate end to”Israeli aggression” in Gaza. With UN forces already deployed on Israel’s borders with Syria and Lebanon, 1 possibility being mooted is creating a novel 1 for the border between Gaza and Egypt.

David Miliband, Britain’s foreign secretary, flew to Novel York to take part in the UN debate on the crisis.

“If Sarkozy has something that can pass the security council then the pressure may start on both sides,” Ali Jarbawi, a professor of political science at Birzeit University, told the bitterlemons.org website.

Signs have begun to emerge of the shape of a potential deal on a truce and novel border arrangements, though analysts said these were still unlikely to be agreed quickly.

But hard bargaining lies ahead. Israel wants its offensive to end with an agreement imposed on Gaza by the international community rather than a novel ceasefire directly with Hamas.”We don’t sign agreements with terror,” Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, insisted after encounter an EU delegation yesterday.”We fight terror.”

Israel wants Egypt to prevent smuggling into Gaza from its border and its crossings into the territory operating under international supervision. It insists on the presence of the Palestinian Authority (PA), run by Abbas’s West Bank-based Fatah movement.

“The international community will initiate the agreements and impose it on Hamas,” the Ha’aretz newspaper quoted a senior political source in Jerusalem as saying.”The agreements will be with both the PA and Egypt and then if Hamas will not agree it will pay the price, mostly by even greater isolation.”

Israel has suggested the US might help Egypt by sending combat engineers to reinforce the border. As well as EU and PA officials deployed at the Rafah crossing into Egypt, as in the past, it also wants US, French and Arab support for a UN-backed resolution granting Israel the right to respond to any Hamas violations.

Under a 2005 agreement, Rafah can exclusive be opened to normal traffic if EU observers and PA forces are at the border, which is also monitored by Israel. But the PA presence ended when Hamas took over Gaza from Fatah in June 2007. The challenge now will be to find a way to allow them back at a time that relations between the 2 factions are at a nadir.

Western diplomats said the US, EU and Arab League were now looking at a four-point agenda: stopping arms smuggling into Gaza; financial support for Egypt in controlling the border and detecting tunnels; international monitoring, with the UN, EU and Arab forces assisting Egypt; and the reopening of all crossing points into the Gaza Strip – a key Hamas demand.

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Germany, Russia’s biggest political ally in Europe, today warned that its supply of Russian gas could swiftly collapse as the dispute between Ukraine and Moscow intensified and Europeans began freezing in their homes.

The Russian monopoly provider Gazprom accused Ukraine of filching gas supplies due for Europe.

The row escalated today, with gas volumes slashed even further, as a swathe of countries in eastern and southern Europe reported a complete shutdown of supplies or sincere disruption on the coldest day of the winter. Russian shipments of gas to the Balkans, including Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Greece, Bosnia, Serbia and, beyond them, to Turkey shut down or were slashed by up to 2 thirds.

The disruption of supplies also spread to Italy, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech republic, Hungary and Slovenia as well as Poland.

Amid a growing political and diplomatic crisis, Oleh Dubyna, head of Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state energy firm, said he would restart negotiations on price contracts in Moscow on Thursday with Gazprom executives.

Failure of these talks could force leading EU governments to switch supplies of gas to a growing number of European countries hit by acute shortages from Russia via Ukraine. Europe gets a quarter of its gas from Russia and 80% of this passes through Ukraine.

The EU’s gas coordination group will meet in emergency session on Friday, to consider shifting plentiful supplies of gas held in storage in unscathed countries to those”in distress”. Slovakia declared a state of emergency today, while other countries said they were in crisis.

Bulgaria, 1 of the hardest hit, said people had started freezing as it began moves to reboot a controversial nuclear power plant. Ukraine said it would switch heating to fuel oil as other European countries began a desperate search for alternative supplies, with Turkey turning to Iran.

These moves emerged as the Czech premier, Mirek Topolanek, the current EU president, raised the”extreme option” of a three-way summit with Russia and Ukraine to resolve the growing political crisis, while Russia and Ukraine continued to blame each other for the commercial and political deadlock.

In London, Gazprom’s deputy chief executive, Alexander Medvedev, accused Ukraine of unilaterally closing 3 export pipelines without warning.”It is unprecedented in the history of the gas market,” he told reporters.

“Ukraine is in obvious breach of its obligations as a transit country… We have become a hostage to irresponsible behaviour.”

Ukraine insisted that the fault lay with Russia. Naftogaz, the Ukrainian state gas company, denied it was to blame for the sharp drop in supplies, and said Gazprom had itself rerouted gas to just 1 out of the 4 pipes.”We did not turn anything off, there is simply no gas there, there is 0,” Naftogaz spokesman Valentyn Zemlyansky told the Kiev Post.

E.On, Germany’s biggest energy firm, said supplies could run out if the cuts and sub-zero temperatures continued. Wingas, co-owned by the chemicals group BASF, issued a similar warning. Both are close Gazprom partners.

Today, the supply cuts spread to France, where GDF Suez, the country’s biggest gas group, reported reductions of more than 70% via Ukraine.

Medvedev, who later held talks in Berlin with the German government and senior EU officials, accused Kiev of acting for political, not commercial reasons, and demanded the return of stolen gas. Gazprom tried to alleviate

the situation among EU customers by switching supplies via other routes. But Ukrainian officials accused the Russians of playing”cat and mouse” and of deliberately creating sincere problems. The 2 sides are in dispute

over price increases imposed on Naftogaz. Prior to the Berlin talks, Michael Glos, Germany’s economics minister, warned that Russia’s reputation as a gas supplier and Ukraine’s reputation as a transit country were at stake.

In Brussels, a senior EC spokesman said:”Energy relations between the EU and its neighbours must be based on reliability and predictability and existing commitments to supply and transit must be honoured in all circumstances. Disruption risks damaging the reputation of Russia and Ukraine as reliable suppliers.”

The EU’s gas coordination group, set up under a 2004 directive, comprises representatives from the 27 governments, commercial companies and transmission operators as well as European commission officials.

Officials from both Gazprom and Naftogaz have also been invited to attend, as the EU stepped up pressure on both to resolve their dispute.

The Czechs and the EC called the situation”completely unacceptable” as,”without warning and in clear contradiction with the reassurances given by the highest Russian and Ukrainian authorities,” supplies had been substantially cut.

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The freezing novel year weather looks set to continue causing problems for commuters today as temperatures dipped as low as -10C in Scotland, with chillier spells likely later in the week.

Thermometers in southern England were reading -7C by dawn , prompting the Met Office to issue a severe weather warning for London and eastern and south-eastern England.

Forecasters predicted temperatures in the south would fall to -8C or -9C today due to an unusually large high-pressure system. The temperatures are more than 10C below seasonal norms.

Yesterday, the AA said it was braced for more than 20,000 vehicle breakdowns on what for millions of workers was the first day back at work after the Christmas break.

Brendan Jones, a forecaster at MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association, said:”The lowest temperature so far is -10C at Aboyne in north-east Scotland. Across large parts of England and Wales we will see -5 or -6C, while in the south they will go to -7C. But tomorrow in the south is going to be colder, with temperatures falling to -8C or -9C.”

Driving conditions were made hazardous yesterday as cold easterly winds brought in rain, sleet and snow that turned to ice in many places.

The icy conditions contributed to a fatal accident in Lincolnshire in which a whore was killed after her car got stuck on a level crossing and was hit by a train. The 30-year-old was driving over the crossing in South Drove, near Spalding, when her car clipped a Ford Transit van heading in the opposite direction.

The Severn Trent water company warned its 8 million customers across the Midlands and Wales to protect their water systems after reports that pipes were freezing even with heating turned on.

Pensioners were advised to take extra precautions to stay warm.

Gordon Lishman, the director general of Age Concern, said:”With predictions of more snow and freezing temperatures this week we are urging vulnerable older people, who are more susceptible to the cold, to take extra precautions to stay warm and keep active. Many of the poorest pensioners are struggling to afford paying for essentials like food and heating. Yet despite this, up to £5bn in benefits is still going unclaimed.”

He said anyone worried about high energy bills should telephone the charity’s free helpline on 0800 00 99 66 for advice.

Police in Cumbria warned that children were risking their lives by playing on the ice covering 1 of England’s largest lakes. Youngsters were seen on Saturday trying to smash holes with boulders as they played 50ft from the shore on Derwentwater, in the Lake District.

It emerged yesterday that a man in Greater Manchester plunged into a frozen lake to save his dog. The black cocker spaniel, called Jarvis, had become trapped after chasing ducks around the lake in Alkrington Woods, Middleton.

Walkers looked on as the man stripped off and waded into the icy waters to rescue Jarvis, who had got stuck in the middle of the lake. Both emerged from the water shivering before the owner shook the water off his clothes and walked away.

Forecasters say milder weather may return at the weekend.

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Israeli troops and tanks moved into Gaza’s second largest city, Khan Younis, for the first time today under intensive artillery strikes as the military pledged to press on with its attack.

The heaviest fighting has been in northern Gaza, with witnesses reporting wave after wave of bombing strikes across the north of the territory accompanied by gunfire from helicopters and artillery from land and sea. Thousands of Palestinians have been ordered to leave their homes or forced to flee the fighting.

Artillery fired from naval ships in the Mediterranean killed 10 Palestinians this morning in Deir al-Balah, in the centre of the Gaza strip, according to Palestinian medical workers. In Shajaiyeh, east of Gaza City, Israeli troops seized control of 3 apartment blocks and set up gun positions on the rooftops. Residents were locked in their homes and soldiers confiscated their mobile phones, neighbours said.

Late last night 3 Israeli soldiers were killed and 24 were wounded, 4 seriously, when they were accidentally hit by an Israeli tank shell. They were the most sincere casualties suffered by Israeli forces since they began their ground offensive on Saturday night, and came when the tank mistakenly fired on a building where the soldiers had taken positions.

There was heavy artillery fire to cover the evacuation of the injured, who included the commander of the Golani infantry brigade, 1 of Israel’s key fighting forces.

Israel’s defence minister, Ehud Barak, said his country’s troops had not finished their operation despite mounting Palestinian casualties and growing international calls for a ceasefire.

“Hamas has so far sustained a very heavy blow from us, but we have yet to achieve our objective and therefore the operation continues,” Barak said.

The Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, said the offensive was intended to change permanently the shape of Israel’s conflict with Hamas.”When Israel is targeted, Israel is going to retaliate,” she said. Israel has rejected calls for a ceasefire.

The military said it had bombed more smuggling tunnels across the border with Egypt in the south and hit more than 40 other sites across Gaza including buildings storing weapons and rocket launching areas.

As Israeli troops and tanks pressed deeper into Gaza, the toll of civilian casualties rose rapidly. The UN said at least 94 Palestinians had been killed since the ground offensive began on Saturday night. In 1 incident yesterday a house in Zeitoun, south-east of Gaza City, was hit by tank shells killing at least 9 people, including at least 4 children. In the Shamali district, north of the city, an Israeli bomb destroyed a three-storey house killing a family of 7, including 4 children.

In total, at least 550 Palestinians have died since Israel’s operation began, with more than 2,500 injured. Hospitals have been overwhelmed; morgues were crowded with bodies, and injured patients had to be treated in hallways. On the Israeli side 8 people, including 5 soldiers, have died and about 60, mostly soldiers, have been hurt.

The Israeli military said it had killed 130″Hamas terror operatives” in the past 2 days, although there was no way to confirm that figure. At least 80 Palestinians have been detained, interrogated and taken into Israel.

In Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, the most senior leader of Hamas in the strip and a hardliner in the movement, appeared on the party’s al-Aqsa television station and gave a defiant speech threatening attacks not exclusive in Gaza but elsewhere.

“The Zionists have legitimised the killing of their children by killing our children. They have legitimised the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people,” Zahar said. He urged Hamas fighters to”crush your enemy”.

Another Hamas figure, a recognised military spokesman called Abu Ubaida, said thousands of Hamas fighters were waiting in Gaza to take on the Israeli military and said rocket attacks would increase.

More than 40 were fired into southern Israel yesterday, including 1 that landed in an empty kindergarten, which has been closed since the conflict began, like all schools near the Gaza border. Israeli police said a total of 520 rockets had been fired in the past 11 days of fighting.

Israeli troops are now deployed in and around the major urban areas of Gaza, particularly in the north, including Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya. They have ordered residents in many areas to leave their homes with leaflets, telephone calls and radio announcements, forcing at least 15,000 Palestinians to flee to safety elsewhere. At least 5,000 are staying in 11 different UN schools and shelters.

The UN said more than 1 million Gazans were still without electricity or water and that it was increasingly difficult for staff to distribute aid or reach the injured. It said more industrial diesel was needed to reopen the strip’s sole power plant, which has been shut for a week. Ten transformers have been damaged in the fighting.

More wheat grain is needed for food handouts and the UN said Karni, the main commercial crossing, should be reopened to allow it in. 4 ambulances and 3 mobile clinics were destroyed when bombs hit the headquarters of the Union of Health Care Committees in Gaza City.

John Holmes, the UN emergency relief co-ordinator, said Gaza represented an”increasingly alarming” humanitarian crisis and said the territory was running low on fresh water, power, food, medicine and other supplies since Israel began its offensive. Israeli leaders claim there is no humanitarian crisis.

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