Sydney, Australia swelters through its second hottest day in its history and its hottest new years day on record. The mercury was pushed up to 44.2°C (111.56°F) on
Observatory Hill, Sydney and 45.2°C (113.36°F) on
Sydney Airport. This heatwave caused 40 bushfires to emerge in Australia's east coast along with power blackouts.
Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad accuses European nations of trying to complete the
Holocaust by creating a "
Jewish camp"
Israel in the
Middle East. "Don't you think that continuation of
genocide by expelling Jews from Europe was one of their aims in creating a regime of occupiers of
Al-Quds (
Jerusalem) Isn't that an important question?" He went on to say that Europe should cede some of their territory for a Jewish state, and that
anti-Semitism has a long history in Europe, while Jews have lived peacefully among Muslims for centuries.
(Reuters)
Russian
natural gas supplier
Gazprom cuts gas supplies to
Ukraine, following Ukraine's rejection of a 460% price increase. President
Vladimir Putin had offered a three-month price freeze if Ukraine would agree to pay the higher price thereafter, but this was rejected. Ukraine pays US$50 per 1000 cubic metres, Russia claims the market rate is $230.
(BBC)