World News Roundup

• Well, the big news is the Hamas victory in Palestinian elections (see post below). MSNBC reports that President Bush won't rule out working with Hamas, but noting “if your platform is the destruction of Israel, it means you’re not a partner in peace, and we’re interested in peace.” But I'm not really sure what he means by urging current President Mahmoud Abbas to stay in power (according to this short-but-sweet Reuters report).
  
  
• Georgia (the country, not the Southern state) is in the midst of an energy crisis, with bad weather damaging powerlines and explosions cutting supply main gas pipeline from Russia. This is all occurring in the midst of record freezing temperatures (via the BBC).
  
  
• Speaking of pipelines, insurgents blew up at least two Iraqi oil pipelines on Wednesday, halting exports to Turkey just one week after they resumed (via Reuters).
  
  
• Agence France Pressse reports that China is backing a plan to have Iran's uranium enriched in Russia, which is hoped to appease international concern that Tehran's nuclear energy program is a front for building weapons.

[UPDATE 12:15pm PST] Looks like President Bush is also giving his blessing to the Russian plan (via BBC):

He said he would agree to the programme if all the nuclear fuel was produced in Russia and transported to Iran under United Nations supervision.
[...]
The Russian plans would limit Iran's ability to covertly produce fissile material for possible use in a nuclear weapon by carrying out uranium enrichment in Russia.

Few details have been released about the Russian proposal.

Iran is thought to be keen that its own scientists are involved in enrichment. Iran is a major supplier of oil to China's fuel-hungry economy.