• ISRAEL CUTS OFF FUEL TO GAZA
• BHUTAN BOMBINGS
• CONGOLESE PEACE DEAL

ISRAEL CUTS OFF FUEL TO GAZA
Israel decided late today to allow some diesel fuel and medicine into Gaza in a one time shipment tomorrow. But power outages persist, threatening health care and international food aid programs.  Israel is accusing Hamas of fabricating a crisis while human rights organizations are condemning the fuel cutoff that began on Friday.  The European Union called the Israeli measure "collective punishment," which is banned under the Geneva conventions. FSRN's Rami aL-Meghari has more.

Last Friday, Israel stopped providing Gaza with fuel. Today, medical sources in Gaza say the fuel needed to generate electricity for Gaza's hospitals will soon run out. At the largest Gaza hospital in al-Shifa, 120 patients with kidney failure are in a life-threatening condition unless the hospital ensures the needed electricity for dialysis machines. Dr. Akram Assaf is the night's shift principal of the kidney-failure ward at al-Shifa.

In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of Gaza Strip's residents live without electricity, after the Gaza's sole power plant, which generates 50 percent of the electricity needed, shut down last night.  Israeli media sources reported today that the Israeli military decided to begin what it termed ' the second step of actions against Gaza'. In September 2007, Israel declared Gaza a 'hostile entity' and in October it began imposing a series of apparently punitive measures on the coastal Strip. Israel claims its actions on Gaza aim at stopping homemade rocket fire onto nearby Israeli towns. For Free Speech Radio News, I’m Rami Almeghari in Gaza.

BHUTAN BOMBINGS
Just three days after the announcement of elections to replace a century of monarchy in the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan – bombs have threatened the prospect of democracy. PC Dubey reports from Nepal.

Midday yesterday, four bomb blasts whipped through different parts of the kingdom including the capital, Thimphu. There was only one minor injury and minimal structural damage, but political observers say this is the first ever such incident in the generally peaceful country. Bhutan's chief election commissioner Kunzang Wangdi blames the Bhutan Tiger Force, the Bhutan Maoists Party and the Communist Party of Bhutan based in Nepal’s refugee camps. Sunita Tamang, a Nepal based Bhutanese refugee woman, says these outfits bask in support of majority of over 100,000 refugees. Tamang concedes the blasts could be their handiwork.

For FSRN – I'm P.C. Dubey in eastern Nepal.

CONGOLESE PEACE DEAL
After two weeks of peace talks, a deal is due today between rebel groups in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the Congolese government. Joshua Kyalimpa reports from neighboring Uganda.

General Laurent Nkunda did not attend that talks in person but President Laurent Kabila attended the talks in Goma, the provincial capital.  The deal has been sponsored by the US, the EU and the African Union. It is designed end months of bloody conflict in Eastern DR Congo from which more than 450,000 people have fled in the last year. The agreement would establish a technical commission to oversee a permanent ceasefire, a disengagement of troops and the disarmament of the rebels. The rebels have been offered amnesty, but this would only cover insurrection against the government - not human rights violations. The European Union is promising US $150 million of aid to reconstruct the region, which has been devastated by the fighting. For FSRN, I’m Joshua Kyalimpa in Kampala, Uganda.