* Ahmadinejad phones Mubarak to discuss Gaza situation Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad telephoned his Egyptian counterpart for the first time and discussed the situation in the Gaza strip.

* China: Nuclear standoff with Iran is at a ‘critical’ stage China said Tuesday that Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West was at a critical stage.

* UN Security Council to Meet on Gaza Blockade The United Nations Security Council is set to meet Tuesday late afternoon to discuss what Hamas has successfully billed as a “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza.

* Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, Nato told The west must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the “imminent” spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

* Survey finds Europeans wary of interaction with Islam Europeans feel more threatened by the possibility of interaction with the Muslim world than Americans or Israelis.

* Russian bombers to test-fire missiles in Bay of Biscay Russia has sent two long-range bombers to the Bay of Biscay, off the French and Spanish Atlantic coasts, to test-fire missiles.

* Iran hails new delivery of nuclear fuel from Russia Russia delivered a fifth consignment of fuel for Iran’s first nuclear power plant in the Gulf port of Bushehr on Tuesday.

* Gen. Shachor: ‘Return to Gaza!’ Oren Shachor, a former IDF general who was forced to resign for having leaked details of secret Hevron negotiations to then-opposition leader Shimon Peres, is just the latest public figure to say Israel has no choice but to enter Gaza with military force.

* Bolton: Near zero chance of Bush attacking Iran Former U.S. ambassador to the UN John Bolton said on Tuesday that it’s close to zero percent chance that the Bush administration will authorize military action against Iran before leaving office.

* EU worried at prospect of US recession EU finance ministers will today (22 January) debate the latest trends on the world markets.