* Israel vows no let-up over Gaza Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak says Palestinian militant group Hamas has suffered a “hard blow”, but insists the offensive in Gaza will continue.

* US opens new embassy in Baghdad The United States inaugurated its gigantic new embassy in Baghdad on Monday.

* Turkish PM: Allah will punish Israel Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan used exceptionally harsh words overnight Sunday to describe Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

* Hot Spots: India and Pakistan South and Central Asia is the most explosive region in the world today, especially in the aftermath of the Mumbai massacres in late November.

* Czechs lead divided European delegation The arrival of the European Union delegation represents the first serious external diplomatic involvement since the Gaza fighting began following Hamas’s decision to renew rocket attacks against Israel.

* EU sends mixed message as Gaza death toll mounts The Czech EU presidency this weekend retracted its support for Israel amid the ground attack on Gaza, while France switched its criticism from Israel to Hamas.

* IDF general warns of Hezbollah retaliation against North Head of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet Sunday that Hezbollah might carry out a limited attack in the north.

* New bird flu cases revive fears of human pandemic Just when you thought you could scratch bird flu off your list of things to worry about in 2009, the deadly H5N1 virus has resurfaced in poultry in Hong Kong.

* China to ‘clean up’ the internet The Chinese authorities have launched a fresh campaign to get rid of unhealthy, vulgar and pornographic content on the internet.

* EU ambassadors meet on Ukraine gas row Russia on Sunday asked the European Union to provide monitoring of Ukraine’s gas transit system.