Gaza/Tel Aviv - Israel rejected calls by the UN, EU and France for a ceasefire and instead prepared for what could be "long weeks of combat," as a ferocious air offensive against Hamas in he Gaza Strip entered its fourth day Tuesday.

An Israeli defence official said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had proposed to Israel that it unilaterally halt its assault for 48 hours to give Hamas a chance to end its rocket and mortar attacks as well.

Tel Aviv  - France has proposed to Israel to observe a 48-hour unilateral ceasefire to give Hamas, the radical Islamic movement ruling Gaza, a chance to end its rocket attacks, an Israeli defence official said Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said Israel may debate the proposal in a session of its security cabinet Wednesday.

Paris - At least 60 journalists and one media assistant were killed while carrying out their work this year, the press watchdog Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday.

Some 673 journalists were arrested, 29 were kidnapped and 929 were physically attacked or threatened, the Paris-based organization said in its Press Freedom Roundup for 2008.

Iraq remained the most dangerous country for journalists, with 15 killed this year, followed by Pakistan, 7 killed, and the Philippines, where 6 media representatives lost their lives.

Paris  - Nearly 200 years after the birth of Louis Braille, the alphabet of raised dots he created to overcome his lack of sight continues to touch the lives of blind people everywhere.

Braille was born on January 4, 1809, near Paris. The son of a saddler, he injured his eye with an awl when he was three years old. The resulting infection spread to both eyes and he was soon blind.

Despite his blindness, he continued to attend a regular village school until the age of 10, when he enrolled at the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris.

London, Dec 26: French actor Gerard Depardieu has a unique way of ensuring that his holiday turkey is delicious - he caresses and talks to the bird before cooking it.

According to Depardieu, who owns La Fontaine Gaillon restaurant in Paris, the best way to prepare the perfect fowl is to relax the turkey, reports the Daily Express.

The star tells Decanter magazine, "Before killing something, I always talk to it. An animal that''s been caressed before it''s killed dies peacefully, and its muscles don''t contract with adrenalin.

Cairo - France is to provide a 280-million-dollar loan to finance the construction of the second phase of the third metro line in Cairo, Egyptian officials said Tuesday.

The agreement came during a two-visit by French Prime Minister Francois Fillon to Egypt that ended Tuesday. The loan will be given to French companies involved in the metro project.

Fillon said France would also give Egypt 3 million euros (4.2 million dollars) over three years support development projects.