Gaza ceasefire efforts stepped up

Israel launched its military offensive against Gaza on 14 November, marking the latest eruption in a conflict with Palestinian militants which has raged between the two sides for years. The latest violence has left dozens of people dead, many of them civilians, and shows no sign of ending soon.

Here is a guide to what has happened so far and how the situation may evolve.

How did this start?

Israel's offensive on Gaza began with an air strike that killed the commander of Hamas's military wing, Ahmed Jabari, whom it accused of responsibility for "all terrorist activities against Israel from Gaza" over the past decade.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) subsequently announced the start of Operation Pillar of Defence, which it said was intended to protect Israeli civilians from rockets and mortars fired by militants in Gaza, as well as cripple Hamas's capability to launch attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation was launched because he could no longer "accept a situation in which Israeli citizens are threatened by the terror of rockets".

Israeli air strikes on what it said were rocket-storage sites and on Hamas facilities, and a surge in Palestinian rocket-fire into Israel, ensued.

Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, said Jabari's assassination had "opened the gates of hell".

Although Jabari's killing signalled the start of Israel's offensive, it was preceded by spates of deadly cross-border violence which saw Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas's Qassam Brigades, firing hundreds of rockets into southern Israel and the Israeli military shelling Gaza and carrying out air strikes.

What do both sides want?

The Israeli government has said Operation Pillar of Defence has two main goals - to protect Israeli civilians and "cripple the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza". Mr Netanyahu has insisted that he is not seeking to topple Hamas.

On 18 November, the prime minister announced that the IDF had attacked more than 1,000 "terrorist targets" and had achieved "significant hits on weapons aimed at Israeli citizens, as well as on those who use the weapons and those who dispatch them". Israel has said it is doing its utmost to avoid civilian casualties, although more than half of those killed in Gaza have been women and children, according to Hamas officials.

Israeli military sources say most of the Iranian-made Fajr-5 and M75 medium-range missiles which had been in the possession of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant group were destroyed during the first few hours of the offensive. However, some have landed near Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and Israel has struggled to contain shorter-range rockets.

At the start of the offensive, Hamas's Deputy Foreign Minister Ghazi Hamad insisted it was not the aggressor and did not want to see the violence escalate. "We still say that we are the victims of the Occupation and we are the target," he said. But Mr Hamad also argued that Hamas had a right to defend its people and would respond to Israeli attacks, warning: "If Gaza is not safe, your towns will not be safe also."

Could there be an Israeli ground offensive?

Mr Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on 18 November that Israel was "prepared for a significant expansion of the operation". He made no mention of the possibility of a ground offensive, but has said one cannot be ruled out. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak earlier said the Israeli military would "do everything that is necessary to achieve peace and quiet".

The Israeli government has approved the calling up of 75,000 army reservists in apparent preparation for a ground offensive. Some 31,000 have already been summoned. Several infantry and armoured brigades have already been deployed in the Negev desert, near Gaza. Veteran Israeli commanders say about 30,000 troops reportedly took part in the 2006 Lebanon war and 20,000 in Operation Cast Lead - Israel's offensive against Gaza in 2008-09.

Analysts say Israeli commanders believe the build-up will help deter Hamas, making it clear Israel's intentions are serious, but also making it possible to launch an offensive were Hamas to refuse a ceasefire.

Since the end of Operation Cast Lead, Hamas's military wing has been preparing for another ground offensive. It is believed to have about 10,000 active fighters and 20,000 in reserve. The group has also built bunkers, improved its military technology and acquired more sophisticated and powerful weapons. Although the Qassam Brigades lost its leader, its command and control capability is still functioning.

How has the international community responded?

US President Barack Obama said on 18 November that it was "preferable" that Israel did not launch a ground offensive on Gaza, but reiterated that he was "fully supportive of Israel's right to defend itself from missiles" despite mounting Palestinian civilian casualties. Mr Obama said rockets fired into Israel by Hamas had been the "precipitating event" in the conflict and had to be stopped. The US, he added, had been "actively working with all the parties in the region" to bring about a de-escalation of violence.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said Hamas bore "principal responsibility" for the current conflict but warned that a ground invasion would "lose Israel a lot of the international support and sympathy they have in this situation".

On 16 November, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said she was deeply concerned at the violence and deplored the loss of civilian lives. She said the rocket attacks were "totally unacceptable and must stop", but also said Israel had to ensure that its response was "proportionate".

However, there has been strong condemnation of Israel's actions from long-time Western allies in the region, notably Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia and Qatar. Egypt's President, Mohammed Mursi, said he would "not leave Gaza on its own", condemning what he called Israel's "blatant aggression against humanity". His Prime Minister, Hisham Qandil, travelled to Gaza on 16 November, where he pledged to work for a truce "to stop the aggression".

On 18 November, Arab foreign ministers gave their backing to the Egyptian peace effort and agreed to send a delegation to Gaza headed by the Arab League's Secretary General, Nabil al-Arabi. The ministers condemned what they described as Israeli "aggression" and expressed "complete discontent" with the UN Security Council's lack of action.

What are the prospects for a ceasefire?

An Israeli delegation travelled to Cairo on 18 November to discuss with Egyptian officials the possibility of a ceasefire. Israel's Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has said that "the first and absolute condition of any truce" is the end of Palestinian rocket-fire from Gaza. "We want a long-term arrangement," Mr Lieberman added. Past ceasefires between Israel and Hamas have been short-lived.

On 17 November, the Egyptians held talks with a Hamas delegation. A senior Hamas official said it wanted guarantees that "all acts of aggression and assassinations would stop". Another official said the group would seek assurances from the United States that it would be the "guaranteeing party". Hamas is also said to want an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza as part of any deal.

What does this mean for the Middle East peace process?

Hamas has not been part of any peace talks with Israel, and two decades of on-off negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank has failed to produce a permanent settlement. The latest round of direct negotiations broke down in 2010.

Even before the Israeli offensive on Gaza began, the two sides had rarely appeared further apart and the conflict more intractable. In January, several months of indirect "proximity talks" ended without any progress.

The Israeli and US governments have also been angered by PA President Mahmoud Abbas's plan to submit on 29 November a request to the UN General Assembly for Palestine to become a "non-member observer state". The Palestinians argue that this would strengthen their hand in peace talks. Israel and the US say the only way to achieve an independent state is through direct negotiations.

On 18 November, Mr Obama said if the situation in Gaza worsened, "the likelihood of us getting back on any kind of peace track that leads to a two-state solution is going to be pushed off way into the future".

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Ballmer says Microsoft Surface sales off to 'modest' start

Sales of Microsoft's new tablet are modest despite the fact that one model was sold out online for more than a week.

Speaking to French daily Le Parisien, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said sales "are starting modestly."

Ballmer claimed that sales were constrained by the limits of the sales channel, according to the report. The Surface tablet is only available at the Microsoft Store online and, in the U.S., at a few dozen brick-and-mortar stores.

But demand for the tablet through Microsoft's sales channels was apparently high enough to trigger a shortage of the $499 model online for more than a week, when it was listed as "out of stock".

Ballmer did not disclose sales numbers to the French newspaper.

The Microsoft CEO did mention that the Intel-based high-end version of the tablet is on the way.

The pricier 0.53-inch thick, two-pound version packs some pretty high-performance silicon: a 3rd Gen Intel "Ivy Bridge" Core i5 Processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000, 4GB of memory, and solid-state drives up to 128GB.

It will also sport a high-resolution 1,920x1,080 10.6-inch display.

Pricing for the Intel-based Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro -- expected early next year -- has not been announced but Microsoft has said in the past that it would be priced in line with ultrabooks that have similar configurations.

Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.

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Pictures of the day

Two leopards knock the spots off each other during an encounter at Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa. The female had already seen off a love rival to win the affections of the male, a formidable 90-kilogram predator named Kashane by locals. Photographer Rudi Hulshof, 35, witnessed the action as he led a group of tourists on a safari around the game reserve.

The crocodiles of Bazoule village in Burkina Faso, West Africa, are considered sacred by the people who live next to their watering hole, and they have such a close relationship that residents take it in turns to feed the potentially lethal beasts. Using a long stick to dangle a dead bird, locals are able to encourage a few of the crocodiles to stand up on two legs to grab their food. They have become so used to humans that some of the reptiles will even allow tourists to hold their tails. British IT manager, Gavin Chapman, 34, from London captured this sight while on holiday with his family.

This image shows the moment a gang of robbers made their escape on motorcycles through a shopping centre. Six people riding three motorbikes and carrying axes drove into Brent Cross Shopping Centre in north London at around 10.15am yesterday. Witnesses said they sped into the first floor area of the shopping centre and headed for the Fraser Hart jewellery store before smashing windows to get at the valuables on display. Photographer Rick Treister, 48, bravely managed to snap this picture on his cameraphone as the criminals made their escape. He says: It was unreal and like a dream. I just managed to get one picture as they sped towards me. It was like something out of a James Bond film.

A visitor walks within an installation titled Chairs, made of wooden chairs by Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata, during Abu Dhabi Art at Saadiyat island, off the coast of Abu Dhabi

Giant panda Fu Hu cuddles with his mother Yang Yang in their enclosure at the Vienna Schoenbrunn Zoo a day ahead of the long voyage of Fu Hu to Chengdu, China











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Oprah Calls Microsoft's Surface Tablet 'A Wowser!'

Look out iPad... Microsoft's Surface tablet just got a big thumbs up from Oprah, the queen of product endorsements. Putting the Surface on "Oprah's Favorite Things 2012" list could make all the difference for Microsoft's Surface tablet in its competition with Apple's much better known iPad and newer iPad mini during the holiday shopping season.

When Oprah Winfrey endorses your product, it's almost sure to fly off the shelves. Winfrey offered a major thumbs-up for the Microsoft Surface tablet  on her Web site that could give the product a holiday shopping boost.

The Microsoft Surface endorsement came as part of "Oprah's Favorite Things 2012," a feature on Oprah.com where the celebrity picks, plans, tests, touches, sniffs and snuggles thousands of items and picks her very favorites. The list will be featured in O's December issue, but the endorsement is getting attention online this week.
Under the header "Take One Tablet and Call Me in the Morning," Oprah writes, "The Surface, Microsoft's first tablet, feels like a Mercedes-Benz to me, people! The full-size keyboard built right into the cover makes work easy, the very smart kickstand makes watching a movie or Skyping a friend a delight, the less than a pound-and-a-half weight makes a great alternative to a laptop , and the many other features make it fun for work and play. Now, that's a wowser!"

Oprah Also Liked iPad
The iPad won similar honors from Oprah, landing on the Favorite Things list in 2010. Here's what Oprah said about Apple's product at the time: "Words cannot describe what I feel for this magnificent device . Thanks to my iPad, I now read about four newspapers a day. I write my column for 'O' magazine on the iPad way before the deadline because I love writing on it so much."
It's not clear if Oprah will scrap her iPad for a Microsoft Surface, or if she'll comment on the new iPad mini. But Microsoft has to be thrilled with the nod from the former talk show queen. When Oprah speaks, people listen.
Designed and engineered by Microsoft employees, Surface promises advances in industrial design. For example, Surface lets software take center stage by supporting a full-sized USB port and a 16:9 aspect ratio. Surface has edges angled at 22 degrees, which Microsoft said is a natural position for the tablet at rest or in active use. The idea is for the hardware to fade into the background and the software to stand out.

Microsoft's Industrial Design
Microsoft pointed to Surface design features like the casing, which is created using what's called VaporMG, a magnesium-based combination of material selection and process to mold metal and deposit particles that creates a finish similar to a luxury watch. By leveraging this approach, Microsoft said, Surface is thin and light yet also rigid and strong. The VaporMG approach also makes room for a built-in kickstand that makes it convenient to watch movies or take photos and videos with the Surface.
Using pressure-sensitive technology, Surface's Touch Cover senses keystrokes as gestures. That paves the way for faster touch typing than with an on-screen keyboard. Touch Cover clicks into Surface via a built-in magnetic connector. Microsoft also offers a 5mm-thin Type Cover that adds raised keys for a more traditional typing feel.
Microsoft will offer two models of Surface: one running an ARM processor  and Windows RT, and one with a third-generation Intel  Core i5 processor and Windows 8 Pro. Surface for Windows RT is available now, and the Windows 8 Pro model will be available in the first quarter of 2013.


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