US US Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice vowed to make ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a core personal priority, but said peace was ultimately up to the parties in the region. Mideast Israeli leader Ariel Sharon paid a surprise visit to the Gaza Strip for a briefing on the army's efforts to halt rocket attacks as his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas arrived in the territory for showdown talks with Hamas. Iran Influential former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said Iran would not be intimidated by "foreign enemies", after US President George W. Bush declined to rule out military action. Russia Russia's Communist Party mounted a campaign to oust the government in a direct challenge to President Vladimir Putin following weeks of nationwide protests sparked by drastic cuts in social welfare benefits. Asia Sri Lanka was set to launch a 3.5 billion dollar "action plan" to rebuild tsunami-smashed regions, the president's office said as the UN warned that the emergency phase was still not over. Iraq A previously unknown group, called the Islamic Jihad Brigades, said it had kidnapped a Lebanese who it accused of working with the Americans, according to a video obtained by AFP. Iraq China expressed deep concern at the kidnapping of eight of its nationals in Iraq and said it was "taking all measures" to secure their release. Europe Airbus unveiled the world's biggest passenger jet in a glitzy ceremony at which the leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Spain hailed Europe's victory over the United States as the new king of the commercial skies. Saudi Arabia Nearly two million Muslim faithful from across the globe were preparing to spend the night in a city of tents in a valley close to Mecca on the first leg of the annual hajj journey. South Africa British lawmakers proposed a bill to strip Mark Thatcher, the son of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, of his hereditary title, following his guilty plea to helping finance a coup plot in Africa.