Washington  - The United States urged Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday to end their dispute over natural gas supplies that has caused a sharp decline in shipments throughout Europe.

"Russia and Ukraine should get together, come to the table, work out the differences that exist between them in what would appear to be a commercial dispute," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

London  - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Tuesday described the fighting in Gaza as the "darkest moment yet for the Middle East" but said he was hopeful that a ceasefire could be reached.

"We must work hard in the next few hours - and days - to reach a ceasefire," Brown told reporters in Downing Street.

He said he had been discussing the situation with fellow world leaders, including from Egypt and Turkey, and had put forward proposals for making progress.

Washington  - The US Senate has refused to seat Roland Burris, the candidate selected by embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill president-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat.

The secretary of the Senate rejected Burris' credentials because they had not been properly certified by Illinois officials, and would not allow him to take the oath of office as Congress opened its new session on Tuesday.

Senate leaders had vowed to block Blagojevich's appointment of Burris, 71, because of the ongoing investigation of the governor, who was arrested December 9 on corruption charges.

Tel Aviv, Jan. 6: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's toxic comments Sunday that Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip would lead to punishment from Allah and Israel's "self-destruction" has drawn a strong protest from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which told Turkey''s ambassador to Israel that these words were "unacceptable" among friendly nations.

Kuala Lumpur, Jan. 2: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has written an open letter to incoming US President Barack Obama, asking him to abandon his caveman attitude.

The former prime minister listed his 2009 wish list in his weblog on New Year''s Day, appealing to the incoming Obama administration to end war.

"I welcome your promise of change. Certainly your country, the United States of America, needs a lot of changes," the New Strait Times quoted Mohammad, as saying.

Lahore, Dec 26: After years of hostilities, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi have held a one-on-one meeting in Dubai on country's political situation.

Sources said the meeting was a result of efforts by `mutual friends' to reunite the PML factions, a private news channel reported on Thursday.