First the World News BBC News with David Legg. More than 50 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the bloodiest single day of fighting with Israeli forces for many months. At least two Israeli soldiers were also killed. Reports say many of the Palestinians who died were militants, but civilians including children were also killed. Yigal Palmor a departmental director in the Israeli Foreign Office said that all other means to bring an end to the rocket attacks had failed. For people who is, who actually live down south, right have been a nightmare for so long that it was clear that something needed to be done. We are faced with the situation which we simply have no other choice. We have done everything possible to make the firing of rocket stop by every other means but by military operation.( www.hxen.com) The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Israel's incursion into the Gaza Strip. The authorities have declared a state of emergency in the Armenian capital Yerevan after fierce clashes between police and thousands of opposition supporters. The protestors have been demonstrating for 11 days against what they say was a rigged victory of the governing party candidate Serzh Sarkisian in February's presidential election. Mathew Collin reports from Yerevan. The Armenian president Robert Kocharian said he was imposing the state of emergency because the country's constitutional order was under threat. The sound of gunshots was heard as riot police moved in to disperse thousands of demonstrators who gathered for a second time on Saturday in defiance of the authorities. There were violent clashes as protestors who’d set up barricades tried to resist the police charge. Despite the state of emergency, the opposition has said its campaign will continue. wWw.hxen.com Voting gets underway in Thailand shortly for the election of Senate members, it's the second stage in the country's return to democratic government following more than a year of military rule after the 2006 coup that unseated the then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Under a new constitution drafted by the military government, the senate has considerable powers but almost half its members are appointed not elected. The Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos says that one of the most senior members of the left wing rebel movement FARC has been killed by the army. The minister said the commander Raul Reyes died together with at least 16 other rebels in a military operation just across the border with Ecuador. The Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa offered his support to the Colombian government. "Any loss of life is always painful for a civilized society, so we underline our solidarity with the Colombian people. And if there is anything that we can do to resolve this bloody conflict between brothers, you can count on us." World News from the BBC. Saudi Arabia has advised its citizens to leave Lebanon because of the political crisis and uncertain security situation there. Last month Saudi Arabia and Kuwait advised their citizens against traveling to Lebanon which has been without a president since November because of the disputes between the western-backed government and the opposition supported by Syria and Iran. The first polling stations are open in Russia in the far east of the country for the presidential election. There are four candidates, the Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev who's backed by President Putin, the communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, the ultra-nationalist politician Vladimir Jirinovski and the head of the Democratic Party Andrei Bogdanov. Richard Galpin reports from the far eastern city of Vladivostok. The polling stations opened at 8 o'clock in the morning here and voters have 12 hours to cast their ballots. But the big question is how many people will bother. There was barely any campaigning by the candidates, and there's little excitement amongst the electorate about this election. There's evidence the authorities have been trying to force people to vote. A civil servant told us she'd been ordered to cast her ballot. There are reports that teachers and members of the police force are also under similar pressure. Police in the American city of Las Vegas say they’ve found firearms and what they call an anarchist type textbook in the same hotel room where they discovered a deadly toxin. Police captain Joseph Lombardo said the book was earmarked at a section containing details about the toxin resin.() Powerful storms have been wreaking havoc over much of northern and central Europe. At least 6 people were killed by falling trees and weather-related traffic accidents in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Several people were slightly injured when an express train in Germany hit a tree on the tracks, and trains were disrupted in Britain and the Czech Republic. That’s the latest BBC News.