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Israel halts assaults on Gaza, but Hamas vows to fight on Israel has halted its assault on Gaza with prime minister Ehud Olmert saying his war aims have been fully attained. However, Hamas vowed to fight on as long as Israeli troops remained in Gaza. Olmert said he would "act to protect our citizens" if Hamas continued shooting. Israel yesterday won American and European pledges to shut down the flow of weapons into Gaza. In three weeks of bombardment by land sea and air, 1,200 Palestinians have been killed. (Observer) The Gaza file: did Israel call the ceasefire to please Obama? In pictures: Gaza under fire Obama to reach out to Muslims Barack Obama yesterday retraced the train journey Abraham Lincoln took from Philadelphia to Washington ahead of his inauguration as president of the US. In a radio address before setting off in the 1930 pullman train with observation car, Obama said he plans to reach out to the Muslim world with a personal initiative, giving a speech in an Islamic capital during his first 100 days in office. He said his inauguration was a chance to "reboot America's image ... in the Muslim world". (Independent on Sunday, Sunday Times) American Transition: news, comment and analysis as Obama prepares for power A brief history of inaugural speeches The Gaza file: did Israel call ceasefire to please Obama? ‘Upturn’ in property market Margaret Beckett, the housing minister, has claimed there are signs of an upturn in the property market, even though analysts predict a 16 per cent fall in house prices this year, and a further 6 per cent fall next year. Beckett admitted that the evidence was purely anecdotal, but made it clear it was being taken seriously by the Government. Last week, business minister Baroness Vadera was ridiculed for claiming she could see the "green shoots" of economic recovery. (Sunday Times) Green shoots are nothing but a mirage - for now ‘Pay as you go’ bail out for banks The Treasury is finalising the details of a "pay as you go" plan to bail out the banks. The plan involves the creation of a new insurance scheme which would put liabilities of up to £200bn onto the public purse. The insurance plan has won out over the suggestion that the Government should create a "bad bank" to buy up banks' existing toxic debts. Meanwhile, there is concern that major lenders will this week unveil shocking losses. Some analysts predict RBS may have lost £20bn. (Sunday Telegraph) Boris Johnson faces expenses row It has emerged that Boris Johnson used taxpayers' money to pay for his £2,000 stay in the luxury Hyatt Regency hotel when he attended the Tory conference in Birmingham last year. Rules governing the Mayor's conduct state that public money must not be used improperly for party political purposes. Johnson claims his conference speech was not party political as he was appearing in his capacity as Mayor. However, he did not attend the Labour or Lib Dem conferences. (Independent on Sunday) What they say about Boris Johnson Grace Mugabe, wife of Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe, attacked a British photographer, punching him repeatedly in the face after he took her picture in Hong Kong. Police may press charges against Mugabe, who was on a shopping trip at the time. (Sunday Times) Zimbabwe Today: exclusive reports from our man in Harare A major study revealed today that one in 10 children in Britain now lives in a mixed-race family. The survey also finds that young people are six times more likely to be mixed-race than adults and mixed race relationships will lead to the disappearance of ethnic groups. (Observer) From post-racial America to racially divided Africa Disquiet within the Tory party over David Cameron's plans to bring controversial Kenneth Clarke back to the front benches as shadow business secretary has spread to Cameron's inner circle, with one close ally telling him a return for Clarke would be a "disaster". (Sunday Times) You read it here first: the Mole on Ken Clarke There have been further calls for Israel to be investigated for war crimes after its invasion of Gaza. Questions have been asked about the use of unconventional weapons after doctors in Gaza reported mysterious wounds allegedly caused by suspected 'tungsten bombs'. (Independent on Sunday) The Gaza file: the latest news, comment and analysis Rules on employing immigrants are to be made tougher in order to force companies to hire Britons first. Home secretary Jacqui Smith said British people should get "first crack of the whip" at tens of thousand of skilled posts that go to foreigners every year. (Sunday Telegraph) Dutch socialists champion the case against immigration David Miliband (left) has received a critical reception in India, with his trip labelled a "disaster" by leading politicians. Miliband came under fire last week for an article linking the Mumbai terror attacks to the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. (Independent on Sunday) People: Miliband spends the night in a mud hut Eastern Europe is braced for a violent "spring of discontent" according to experts. Inflation, unemployment and racism are expected to lead to riots and street battles in Bulgaria, Romania and the Baltic states. Last week there were riots in Lithuania. (Observer) Hungary is counting the cost of capitalism Is the Polish diaspora returning home? Rachida Dati (left), the French justice minister is thought to have survived a reshuffle thanks to the global celebrity her swift return to work after giving birth brought her. It is thought that president Nicolas Sarkozy had wanted to move Dati to another job. (Sunday Times) No justice for a new French star People: did Sarkozy bully Dati back to work? Hundreds of African migrants are feared to have drowned after their boats capsized in the Red Sea as they tried to reach Yemen from the Horn of Africa. Some 300 people are believed to have been aboard two ships, but only 30 have been rescued alive. (Independent on Sunday) Somalia: home of free marketeers and buccaneers In pictures: the deadliest voyage Senegal - Africa's cocaine coast A British professor says the character played by Kate Winslet (left) in Oscar-tipped movie The Reader was inspired by Ilse Koch, wife of a high-ranking Nazi and known as the 'Bitch of Buchenwald'. Author Bernhard Schlink has always refused to reveal his sources. (Observer) People: Winslet may have trouble with Oscar voters Danny Boyle's new film Slumdog Millionaire has come in for some criticism in India, where it is to be released on Friday. The film, set in Mumbai, has been criticised for focusing on the seedy underbelly of life in the city, painting a negative picture. (Sunday Telegraph) You read it here first: Bachchan slams Slumdog This week's film reviews A campaign to raise £5m to keep a painting by Turner in the UK has failed in the wake of another campaign which successfully raised £50m to keep a Titian in the country. Pope's Villa at Twickenham is being sold by its socialite owners, the Dent-Brocklehursts. (Sunday Times) A heavyweight economic forecast to be published this week says that the UK is facing its biggest peacetime economic decline since 1931. The Ernst & Young Item Club will say that the economy will shrink by 2.7 per cent this year and a further 0.5 per cent in 2010. (Sunday Times) Bankrupt Britain: it could happen The recession is worse than we are being told One of Britain's most prestigious rail franchises, National Express East Coast, is considering charging passengers £1 for a seat reservation, an indication of how the financial crisis is hitting Britain's transport providers ahead of a meeting between industry heads and Geoff Hoon (left) this week. (Observer) Renationalisation can cure Britain' failures Lloyds is to resist an offer from the Government that would give the taxpayer a majority stake in the bank. Lloyds, which will become Britain's biggest retail bank tomorrow with the formal merger of HBOS and Lloyds TSB, is already 43 per cent owned by the taxpayer. (Sunday Telegraph) The top business stories A Lloyds HBOS merger would not be allowed in normal times