Main news of January 3

WORLD

* Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz denied Gazrpom's claims it was stealing gas, made after some EU states reported reductions in gas supplies via Ukraine, the company said on its website

* The gas dispute between Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz is set to continue with both sides swapping accusations

* Russia's energy giant Gazprom is to file a lawsuit with the Stockholm Arbitration Court against Ukraine's Naftogaz to guarantee Russian gas deliveries to Europe across Ukraine, the company CEO said

* Romania, Poland and Hungary all reported shortfalls of up to 40% in Russian gas delivered through Ukraine as the dispute between Kiev and Russian energy giant Gazprom intensified

* The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip rose to 440 Palestinians with some 2,285 people injured as the conflict entered its second week, Lebanon's Al-Manar TV reported

* Two separate explosions hit the Serb and Albanian parts of the ethnically divided town of Kosovska-Mitrovica injuring six firefighters and damaging cars and property, Serbia's EMportal reported

* Two planes carrying Russian and CIS nationals, evacuated from the Gaza Strip following Israeli airstrikes, have arrived in Moscow, the emergencies ministry said

RUSSIA

* Three children died in a house fire overnight in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Daghestan, a regional emergencies ministry spokesman said

* Burglars stole cash and valuables worth 27 million rubles ($935,000) from a house in the Moscow Region, police said

* Five people died and three others were injured in a two-vehicle crash in Russia's southeastern Nizhegorodsky District, a police source said

* Two people died when a female, who had earlier been detained for drink driving, killed a pedestrian before smashing into a tree in south Moscow, a police spokesman said