Murray battles to win over Nadal

Murray lost his first five matches against Nadal

Andy Murray completed his preparation for the new tennis season with a hugely encouraging win over world number one Rafael Nadal in Abu Dhabi.

The British number one followed up Friday's defeat of Roger Federer with a 6-4 5-7 6-3 win over Nadal in the final of the exhibition tournament.

Murray collects US$250,000 for winning the event but beating Nadal and Federer will be of greater satisfaction.

"It was tough match, he made me do a lot of running," said the Scot.

"It was a great match for both of us."

While the victory will not count towards Murray's world ranking or his head-to-head record against Nadal, it will give him a major boost ahead of the season proper, which begins next week.

Having beaten Federer for the fifth time in the semi-finals he took the opportunity to rack up a second straight win over Nadal, following his US Open semi-final victory in September.

The Spaniard retains an impressive 5-1 lead over Murray in competitive meetings but the Briton is very much a contender for the major titles now, starting with this month's Australian Open.

EU states see gas pressure drop

Ukraine says Russia is not sending enough gas to ensure EU supplies

Several European Union countries have reported a drop in deliveries of gas, apparently as a result of a payment dispute between Russia and Ukraine.

Romania and Bulgaria both said the pressure in their gas pipelines had fallen, following similar reports from Hungary and Poland.

Russian gas giant Gazprom cut off Ukraine's gas supply on Thursday.

Gazprom says it can no longer count on Ukraine as a transit route to EU countries and is seeking alternatives.

In a BBC interview, the deputy chairman of Gazprom, Alexander Medvedev, said he hoped EU countries would back the move.

The firm has since accused Ukraine of stealing gas.

However, Ukraine's state energy firm said Russia was not sending enough gas to ensure the EU supplies.

Ukraine's state gas company, Naftogaz, denied illegally siphoning Russian gas, saying it was diverting gas from its own reserves to try to maintain export supplies.

The Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency, is to convene a meeting of envoys in Brussels on Monday to discuss the row.

Both Russian and Ukrainian officials are visiting European capitals to put their case.

Consumers 'not hit'

Europe's gas pipeline network Enlarge Map

The head of Romania's gas pipeline operator Transgaz said gas supplies had dropped by 30% on Friday.

The head of Bulgaria's state gas concern told Reuters news agency Bulgaria's supply was also falling and that transit to Turkey, Greece and Macedonia was affected.

Officials in both countries said consumers had not so far been affected.

On Friday, Poland reportedly recorded a drop of 6%, and Hungary a drop of almost a quarter.

In his first foreign interview since the gas was cut off to Ukraine, Gazprom's Alexander Medvedev dismissed the suggestion his company was deliberately picking a fight with Kiev.

The deputy chairman of Gazprom, Alexander Medvedev, speaks to the BBC

Instead he said Gazprom was ready to end the dispute immediately - but there was no-one to negotiate with.

Mr Medvedev said Gazprom had gone out of its way to ensure supplies of gas to Europe were maintained.

He said the problem was not with Russia, but Ukraine, adding "that's why we believe it's necessary to develop, as soon as possible, alternative transit routes".

The alternatives are two new pipelines Russia is planning to build that will by-pass Ukraine on their way to Western Europe.

The Nord Stream gas pipeline would run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, and the South Stream link would pass under the Black Sea.

The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Moscow says this latest dispute is expected to give those Russian plans a significant boost.

Pipes across Ukraine carry about a fifth of the EU's gas needs. A similar row between Gazprom and Ukraine at the beginning of 2006 led to gas shortages in several EU countries.

Suicide bomb kills many in Iraq

Up to 30 people have been killed in a suicide bombing in a town south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, police say.

About 110 people were also injured in the attack at a gathering of Sunni Muslim tribal leaders in Yusufiya, 20km (12 miles) from Baghdad.

Police said the bomber had entered the home of a sheikh as a Sunni council meeting was being held.

The area was once an al-Qaeda stronghold but local Sunnis turned against the group in recent years.

A number of the tribal leaders, or sheikhs, are reported to be among the casualties.

The council meeting was part of an initiative by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, a Shia, to reach out to Sunnis.

Will Obama shift policy on Cuba?

By Kim Ghattas BBC News, Washington

The election of Barack Obama has energised those seeking a change in relations between the US and Cuba.

Mr Obama promised change during the election campaign

And with so many thorny, complex issues awaiting the incoming president, analysts say Cuba might provide Mr Obama with an easy opportunity to bring about the kind of change to America's foreign policy that the world and Latin America in particular are waiting for.

From Russia to Iran, Iraq and Pakistan, "none of these crises will allow President Obama to signal swiftly to the world the kind of changes he proposes in American foreign policy," write Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief-of-staff to Colin Powell, and Patrick Doherty, from the New American Foundation.

"In contrast, US-Cuba policy is low-hanging fruit: though of marginal importance domestically, it could be changed immediately at little cost."

Younger generation

Hopes have been raised by statements made by Barack Obama himself and policies spelled out on his campaign website.

Cuban-Americans are eager to help their families in Cuba

A big factor driving the calls for change is the growing number of Cuban-Americans who are eager for more contact with the homeland, want to help their families there improve their living standards and believe this will help bring about change inside Cuba.

Attitudes are especially changing amongst the younger generation, which does not bear the scars of life under Fidel Castro - but some older Cuban-American have also had a change of heart.

Carlos Saladrigas is a 60-year-old Cuban-American from Miami. He is a life-long Republican, but voted for Mr Obama this time round.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this year, he said: "You don't have to be very smart to figure out that after 50 years of trying something that hasn't worked, maybe it's time to try something new."

He said the best way to bring about change inside Cuba was to allow Cuban-Americans to become the agents of change by letting them visit the island.

As the Americas have changed, we have sat on the sideline, offering no compelling vision and creating a vacuum for demagogues to advance an anti-American agenda Barack Obama

On Mr Obama's campaign website, the section on Cuba states that he will "empower our best ambassadors of freedom by allowing unlimited Cuban-American family travel and remittances to the island".

A quick way to send a signal of change would indeed be for Barack Obama to lift some of the restrictions imposed by President George W Bush in 2004.

Mr Bush limited the number of visits Cuban-Americans were permitted to make to the communist island from one a year down to one every three years.

He also reduced the amount of remittances they could take with them to Cuba from $3,000 to $300.

Embargo

A new report published by the Brookings Institution in Washington makes even further recommendations on Cuba, advising almost total reversal of US policy.

The report, written by prominent policy-makers from the US and Latin America, advocates lifting all restrictions on travel to Cuba by Americans and recommends removing Cuba from the State Department's list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

Rarely before has the potential for change been so tangible

While Mr Obama may not go this far initially, there is little doubt that he will make changes to a policy that has put the US at odds with most of the world.

In October, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution urging the US to lift its trade embargo against Havana, for the 17th year in a row.

Only Israel and Palau joined the US in supporting the embargo, with 185 countries voting against it.

A rapprochement with Cuba would also help improve ties with Latin America.

On his website, Mr Obama states that "George Bush's policy in the Americas has been negligent toward our friends, ineffective with our adversaries, disinterested in the challenges that matter in people's lives, and incapable of advancing our interests in the region".

Economic conditions could force the Castro brothers to adopt reforms

"As the Americas have changed, we have sat on the sideline, offering no compelling vision and creating a vacuum for demagogues to advance an anti-American agenda."

The Bush administration rejects the charge that it has neglected Latin America, pointing out that the president has travelled nine times to the region.

But there is clearly room for improvement, according to Mr Wilkerson and Mr Doherty.

"Our Cuba policy is also an obstacle to striking a new relationship with the nations of Latin America," they write.

"But until Washington ends the extraordinary sanctions that comprise the Cuba embargo, Latin America will remain at arms-length, and the problems in our backyard - Hugo Chavez, drugs, immigration, energy insecurity - will simply fester."

Economic challenge

Supporters of the embargo and the tough policies on Cuba say any rapprochement with Cuba would be a sign of weakness, unilateral concessions to an oppressive regime with nothing in return.

Cuba has welcomed some of Mr Obama's proposals and Raul Castro has offered to free political dissidents in exchange for the release of five convicted Cuban spies in US prisons as a gesture to pave the way for a meeting with the incoming president.

Fifty years on, the revolution's legacy is mixed, correspondents say

Mr Obama is unlikely to make such a deal, but Marifeli Perez-Stable, writing in the Miami Herald in December, suggested that it may be possible to exchange the "Five Heroes" (as they are known in Cuba) for US fugitives living in Cuba.

Rarely before has the potential for change been so tangible, in US policy towards Cuba but also in the attitudes inside the island itself.

After a devastating hurricane season, a worldwide economic downturn and a drop in oil prices, which impacts how much support Cuba can get from its oil-rich ally Venezuela, the Castro brothers, both of whom are old, may be more malleable.

Mr Obama is expected to travel to Trinidad and Tobago in April to attend the Summits of the Americas.

There have been calls for him to announce the policy shift towards Cuba ahead of the gathering so that the meeting can be the start of a new era in Washington's ties with Latin America.

China dairies offer text apology

Sanlu chief Tian Wenhua is awaiting sentencing following the end of her trial

Chinese dairy companies involved in the tainted milk scandal have apologised in a New Year text message sent to millions of mobile phone subscribers.

"We sincerely apologise...and we beg your forgiveness," read the note from 22 dairy firms, led by the now-bankrupt Sanlu, China's state news agency said.

At least six babies died and 290,000 became ill from melamine contamination in milk products made by the companies.

Melamine was added so the milk appeared to have a higher protein content.

"We are deeply sorry for the harm caused to the children and the society," the text message said. "We sincerely apologise for that and we beg your forgiveness."

It said a compensation fund had been established for the victims, including the families of thousands of babies still suffering from urinary problems such as kidney stones.

Standing trial

The chairwoman of Sanlu, Tian Wenhua, pleaded guilty to selling fake or substandard products at a trial that recently concluded in northern China.

Timeline: China milk scandal

She is expected to be sentenced to life imprisonment although a verdict may not be reached for several weeks, the official Beijing News said.

Earlier reports indicated that the 66-year-old executive could face the death penalty.

In the past week, another 17 people involved in producing, selling, buying and adding melamine to raw milk have also gone on trial.

Sanlu said it discovered the problem in May and reported it to authorities in Hebei Province on 2 August.

But nothing became public until early September, when the New Zealand government said it brought complaints by Sanlu's partner, Fonterra, to the attention of the Chinese government.

Sri Lanka troops 'enter rebel HQ'

Sri Lanka's military says soldiers have entered the Tamil Tiger rebels' de facto capital Kilinochchi in the north for the first time in a decade.

Senior military officials said troops had entered the town from two sides.

On Thursday, the military said it had seized the strategically important junction of Paranthan, a crossroads north of Kilinochchi.

There has been no word from the rebels but earlier this week, they said they were successfully defending the town.

The Sri Lankan army has been advancing towards Kilinochchi for months.

Troops fighting their way towards the town have faced determined resistance for months.

Both sides have recently claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties on each other in the north of the island.

The town was captured by the rebels 10 years ago, and became their administrative headquarters.

Murder probe into toddler's death

A murder inquiry has been launched after a 21-month-old boy died in Sidcup, south-east London.

Police say they were alerted by staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital after a post-mortem examination revealed the toddler died of multiple injuries.

Two people, one believed to be the child's 29-year-old mother, and a 24-year-old man, have been arrested and bailed to return to police in February.

The boy, who has not been identified, died in Sidcup on 29 December.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "The death is being investigated by the child abuse investigation command major investigation team based at East Ham. It is being treated as murder."

Police interviewed the man and woman on two occasions before releasing them on bail.