Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday in Paris that Israel must be given certain security guarantees before the fighting in the Gaza Strip can end.

"Certain conditions for a ceasefire must be created. The key is to give Israel security guarantees that arms smuggling across Egypt's border with Gaza will cease," Merkel told journalists after a meeting with Sarkozy.

Washington - US president-elect Barack Obama is expected to call for drastic measures to revive the ailing US economy on Thursday, even if that means tipping the US deficit over 1 billion dollars.

In prepared comments for a speech scheduled for 1600 GMT, Obama said the economic situation could deteriorate further and a recession last for years without government intervention. He said unemployment threatens to reach 10 per cent.

Riyadh - A Saudi Arabian woman killed two people whilst illegally driving a truck, local media reported on Thursday. Women are banned from driving in the conservative Muslim country.

The woman crashed into a car, killing two of its passengers. One of them died instantly and the other died shortly afterwards at al- Duadmi hospital, the Saudi Arabian al-Watan news paper reported.

The incident could weaken the case of women's activists who have long pressed for women to have the right to drive. According to Saudi Islamic law women are prohibited from driving for religious reasons.

Paris - Russia must respect the contracts it has signed to deliver natural gas to Europe, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday in Paris.

"Russia has contractual obligations with the Europeans, and they must be respected," Sarkozy told journalists after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The French president also urged Ukraine to respect European interests.

"Europe has done a great deal for (Ukraine), because under the French (EU) presidency we obtained the opening of a privileged partnership for Ukraine," Sarkozy said.

Vienna - More than 35,000 mail items will never reach their Austrian destinations after they were destroyed in a burning postal lorry on Thursday, Austria's postal service confirmed.

The driver was transporting mail on Thursday morning near the village of Pruggern in the Styria province, when he noticed that his vehicle was on fire.

The man managed to escape the flames unhurt, but more than 50 firefighters were unable to prevent the lorry and 30,000 letters, 250 packages and 5,000 periodicals from burning up.

Bratislava - Slovakia's carmakers halted or limited production Thursday, a side effect of Russia's decision to cut off natural gas supplies flowing to western Europe via Ukraine.

A Kia plant in Slovakia, which churns out 700 cars a day, halted production Thursday morning, spokesman Dusan Dvorak confirmed. A Peugeot plant decided to slash one of its shifts, local reports said.

Slovakia is fully dependent on Russian gas deliveries. The Slovak gas importer and distributor SPP tapped into its underground reserves to supply households, schools and hospitals. However, it asked industrial clients to limit consumption to a minimum.