Iraq US forces shelled rebel holdouts in Fallujah and 13 people were killed in deadly attacks elsewhere in Iraq, as a report by marine intelligence warned the insurgency would grow despite massive offensives to crush the rebels. Britain French President Jacques Chirac called for the United States and Europe to "rally together" to revive the Middle East peace process, declaring the matter urgent following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Sudan UN leaders attending a rare Security Council session here won a pledge that Sudan's government and main southern rebel group would reach a deal to end their two-decade war this year. Mideast Prime minister Ahmed Qorei called for an end to "armed chaos" in the Palestinian territories after meeting with various political factions in Gaza City. Mideast Cairo lodged a formal protest after the Israeli army killed three Egyptian policemen by mistake, threatening to plunge their delicate diplomatic ties into crisis mode. UN Opium growing in Afghanistan leapt by two-thirds this year, according to a new UN report Thursday that warns the former Taliban stronghold could relapse into a "narco-state" and terrorism haven. EU European Union lawmakers approved the bloc's new executive commission, ending three weeks of limbo sparked by an unprecedented institutional face-off. Iran Iran angrily denied allegations by an exiled opposition group that it was running a secret nuclear bomb facility near Tehran, and indicated that UN inspectors would be allowed to visit the site. Italy Gianfranco Fini, a former pro-fascist leader, has been named Italy's new foreign minister to replace EU Justice Commissioner-designate Franco Frattini, a government minister announced following a cabinet meeting. UN The Kyoto Protocol, the UN's long-troubled pact for combatting global warming, finally got the green light, with February 16 announced as the date when it will become a binding treaty. Myanmar Myanmar's military government announced it had begun releasing thousands of prisoners who may have been wrongly imprisoned by a recently disbanded military intelligence unit. India Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrapped up his first official visit to Kashmir with an appeal to militants to lay down their arms, while offering more sweeteners to the revolt-racked region.