- 17:18 01/01/2009
Israel airstrikes killed on Thursday one of the leaders of the Palestinian movement Hamas, Nizar Ravyan, along with at least nine family members, Hamas said. 
- 17:05 01/01/2009
Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine on Thursday after last-ditch talks on a 2009 contract failed late on Wednesday, but increased shipments to other European states, gas monopoly Gazprom said.
- 16:45 01/01/2009
Foreign radio stations are not allowed to broadcast on local frequencies in Azerbaijan as of January 1, the oil-rich state's communication ministry said on Thursday.
- 16:41 01/01/2009
A love-hungry beaver is reported to have been causing havoc in southwest England felling trees in the Cornish village of Gunnislake in an attempt to attract a female companion, local media reported.
- 15:55 01/01/2009
Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine on Thursday after last-ditch talks on a 2009 contract failed late on Wednesday, but increased shipments to other European states, gas monopoly Gazprom said.
- 15:18 01/01/2009
Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine on Thursday after last-ditch talks on a 2009 contract failed late on Wednesday, but increased shipments to other European states, gas monopoly Gazprom said.
- 15:15 01/01/2009
The husband of a Russian national living in the Gaza Strip has become one of the latest victims to be killed by an Israeli airstrike on the Palestinian enclave, local health officials said on Thursday.
- 14:19 01/01/2009
Israel continued its aerial bombardment of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Thursday bringing the death toll in the six-day military campaign to over 400, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.
- 12:56 01/01/2009
At least 59 people died and 212 others were injured as a fire engulfed an up market nightclub during New Year celebrations in the Thai capital, Bangkok.
- 12:11 01/01/2009
Russia fully cut gas supplies to Ukraine at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, but increased gas deliveries to Europe after last-ditch talks failed late Wednesday, Russia's gas monopoly said.
- 11:20 01/01/2009
Gas deliveries to Ukraine were reduced by four times at 10.00 a.m. on Thursday after last-ditch gas talks ended in failure late Wednesday, Russia's Vesti television channel said.
- 10:22 01/01/2009
The largest country in the world, Russia, has seen in the New Year 11 times, from Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean to Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea.
