Nepal King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal's coalition government, imposing direct rule and enforcing an indefinite emergency, but igniting charges he staged a coup in the Himalayan outpost battling a Maoist revolt. Iraq Iraqi leaders stepped up efforts to persuade Sunni Muslims to return to the political process as the final vote count from the country's historic election got under way. Sudan Sudan dismissed as one-sided a UN report that accused the Khartoum government of gross and systematic human rights violations in Darfur but stopped short of labelling the violence in the region as genocide. Mideast Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said Israelis and the Palestinians were making progress towards much-craved peace in the volatile Middle East, amid signs that the long-stalled peace process may be revived. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe set March 31 as the date for key parliamentary elections that will be closely watched to gauge whether Zimbabwe can live up to its pledge to hold free and fair polls. Israel President Horst Koehler pledged that Germany would never let up in the fight against anti-Semitism as he began a state visit to Israel with a visit to Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. Kuwait The Kuwaiti parliament approved tough new powers for the security forces in the face of a wave of unrest by Islamic militants that has rocked the oil-rich Gulf emirate. Vietnam A 25-year-old Cambodian woman who died in southern Vietnam has tested positive for bird flu, making her the first Cambodian known to have died after contracting the virus, a doctor said. Britain An Egyptian among 12 foreign terror suspects who were jailed indefinitely without charge has walked free after spending three years in British prisons, the Home Office said. England A climate conference opened to renewed concern about the worsening threat of global warming and appeals from Britain to its ally, the United States, not to stand on the sidelines. Thailand The UN's World Tourism Organisation, meeting at its first ever emergency session, endorsed a plan to revive the industry in nations hit hard by the devastating December 26 Indian Ocean tsunamis.