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[OMEN]

A pilot wanted on fraud charges parachuted out of his plane over the US state of Alabama and allowed the aircraft to crash in neighboring Florida in an apparent attempt to fake his death.

Authorities launched a manhunt for 38-year-old Marcus Schrenker, who survived and checked into an Alabama hotel under a false name, and then fled, a Florida sheriff's officer said.

He was the only person aboard the plane that took off last Sunday from Indiana.

RTE

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[OMEN]

The European Commission has said little or no gas is flowing from Russia through Ukraine to Europe.

EC spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen said the situation was obviously very serious and needed to improve rapidly.

The agreement between Russia and Ukraine designed to facilitate resumption of gas supplies appears to have broken down.
Russia's Gazprom said this morning it had resumed gas flows to Ukraine for transit, but that they were being blocked there.

Gazprom deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev said 'Ukraine has blocked all our efforts for transit of gas to Europe ... In these circumstances, we physically can't carry out transit of gas through Ukraine's territory.'

Ukraine admitted blocking the gas but said it was Gazprom's fault for imposing 'unacceptable' conditions for its transit to European customers.

In a further setback, the commission said its energy monitors had not been given access to all distribution points in Russia and Ukraine to check on the transfers.

The commission's energy spokesman said that EU monitors were in place at a number of observation points to monitor proceedings but they were not being allowed access to control rooms at the dispatching centres.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko was in the parliament in Kyiv where the gas crisis was discussed this morning.

There were calls for the resignation of her government, but the debate focussed primarily on the need for a broader agreement with Moscow.

Fuel & Energy Minister Yury Prodan said it would be difficult to overcome the crisis if dialogue between Ukraine and the Russian Federation concerned only energy matters.

Russia had resumed pumping gas to Europe through Ukraine this morning for the first time since a contract dispute halted supplies to many European countries nearly a week ago.

Czech Industry Minister Martin Riman said 'The dispute at the beginning of the crisis is still unresolved. If the Ukrainians and the Russians remain entrenched in their positions, this could be again reflected on the European scale.'

The gas flow at Russia's Sudzha pumping station near the border with Ukraine was opened soon after 10am (7am Irish time)..

Flows to Ukraine remain halted

Moscow is still not supplying gas for Ukraine itself because of their contract dispute, and Russian officials said differences with Kiev over how to ensure transit to Europe could still create problems.

Europe depends on Russia for a quarter of its gas supplies and most of those volumes are shipped though Ukraine.

The disruption, which saw factories shut for lack of fuel, has dented the reputation of both Moscow and Kyiv as energy sources and prompted a search for new supply routes.

Russia cut off gas to Ukraine itself on 1 January after failing to reach agreement with Kiev on gas fees. A week later it halted transit flows too, saying Ukraine was stealing gas intended for Europe. Kyiv accused Moscow of using energy blackmail.

The resumption came after an EU-brokered deal to deploy international monitors to strategic points along the pipeline route to reassure Russia that Ukraine was not siphoning off transit gas.

Some 18 European countries suffered disruptions to their gas supplies. Eastern Europe and the Balkans bore the brunt of the problems.

Bulgaria seeks EU aid

Bulgaria said it would ask the EU to provide €400m in aid to help ease its dependence on Russia, its sole gas supplier, by expanding storage and building pipeline links to Greece and Romania.

Bulgaria, like Slovakia, said it might be forced to restart a nuclear reactor to produce enough electricity.

The gas row marks yet another power-play between Moscow and Kiyiv, whose relations have been strained since Ukraine elected pro-Western leaders after the Orange revolution in 2004 and applied to join NATO.

Analysts say Russia, though it insists it was not to blame for the disruption, has suffered damage to its standing in Europe, its most lucrative gas market and biggest trading partner.

'Moscow seems to have managed to secure the safe transit of Russian gas to Europe. Yet this is a Pyrrhic victory for Russia,' Russia's state-controlled VTB bank said in a research note. 'Russia's image as a reliable energy supplier is hurt.'

Western diplomats say Ukraine's reputation has suffered too, and the economic impact could be even worse.

Gazprom is demanding that Kyiv hand over $614m in unpaid gas bills and pay $450 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas in 2009 - similar to rates paid by EU customers but a big rise on last year's price of $179.5.

Ukraine is likely to struggle to absorb those costs as its economy - based on steel and chemical exports - has been hit hard by the global slowdown and its hryvnia currency has experienced sharp falls.

Ukraine has said it has ample stockpiles of gas but it has restricted supplies to some industrial customers, a measure that could compound economic problems.

RTE

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[OMEN]

Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters are fighting further fierce battles on the streets of Gaza City.
Israeli special forces backed by tanks and air strikes moved deeper into Gaza's main city overnight, advancing several hundred metres into several neighbourhoods in the south.

Palestinian militants fought back with roadside bombs and mortar and gunfire. Witnesses said the fighting was the most intense of the 18-day-old conflict.

The clashes came as the Israeli media widely speculated that the country's leadership may approve an expansion of offensive in Gaza, despite ongoing talks in Egypt on how to end the fighting.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is to travel to the Middle East today, has again called on the two sides to stop the violence.

Israeli tanks retreated shortly after dawn from the neighbourhoods of Tal al-Hawa and Sheikh Ajlin, but troops and armour remain camped in the outlying neighbourhood of Zeitun.
Dozens of houses have been damaged and some reduced to rubble by Israeli armour in the hours following the clashes.

At least 10 people were killed this morning's violence, medics said, while the army reported that one Israeli officer was critically wounded.

In a late-night television address, Ismail Haniya, who heads the Hamas administration in Gaza, proclaimed Israel had failed to break the will of Gaza and that the Islamists were nearing victory.

Israeli air craft pounded the densely-populated region with more than 60 air strikes overnight, targeting what Israel described as rocket launching site and weapons storage facilities.

Aid agencies have again warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the territory where the vast majority of the 1.5 million population depends on foreign aid.

Since Israel began its operation 27 December, at least 940 people, including 280 children, have been killed and another 4,350 wounded, according to Gaza medics.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or by rocket attacks in the same period and militants have fired some 700 rockets and mortars into Israel

RTE

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[OMEN]

The trial has opened of a Dublin man accused of a murder more than seven years ago.

28-year-old Brian Rattigan of Cooley Road, Drimnagh in Dublin has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Declan Gavin at Crumlin Road in August 2001.

The trial is expected to last at least a month.
A senior barrister for the State told the jury that Declan Gavin was attacked just after 3am on the morning of 25 August 2001 outside the Abrakebabra fast food outlet at Crumlin Shopping Centre.

The State alleges that the victim was attacked by a masked man with a knife who got out of a Nissan Micra car.

The court heard that Mr Gavin suffered two stab wounds, one of them fatal.

Prosecution counsel alleges that Declan Gavin was the victim of a targeted attack.

Mr Rattigan has pleaded not guilty to his murder.

RTE

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[OMEN]

A 60-year old financial advisor is due to go on trial later today charged with possessing more than £3m from the Northern Bank Raid.

Timothy Cunningham from Farran, Co Cork, is also charged with laundering cash connected with that raid.

His 33-year-old son is also due to go on trial on related charges.


The raid in Belfast in December 2004 was one of the biggest robberies ever carried out, and the biggest raid ever staged in Ireland.

A gang of raiders held staff at the bank and their families hostage before escaping with £26.5m.

The investigation of the robbery involved gardaí and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

In February 2005 detectives involved in the Garda's Operation Phoenix made a number of seizures of cash, including more than £2m sterling at a house in Co Cork.

Mr Cunningham was arrested and charged last March with 10 offences in connection with the garda investigation.

These included a charge of possessing more than £3m, knowing or believing that it came from the Northern Bank robbery.

His son Timothy John Cunningham is facing related charges and both men are due to go on trial later at the Circuit Criminal Court in Cork today.

RTE

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