Mideast Israel will show it is not serious about peace unless it follows up its pullout from the Gaza Strip by stopping its settlement activity in the West Bank, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said. Mideast Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas announced in a speech that legislative elections would take place on January 25 of next year. Vatican Pope Benedict XVI was to hold talks with Muslim leaders in his latest bid to reach out to other religions before holding a prayer vigil for hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims. Iraq The United States has dropped its opposition to enshrining Islam as Iraq's main source of legislation in a bid to secure agreement on the text of a new constitution by a Monday deadline, sources close to the negotiations said. US New legal troubles loomed for US pharmaceutical giant Merck and Co. after a Texas jury found it guilty in a wrongful death case brought by the widow of a man who died after using its blockbuster arthritis painkiller Vioxx. US Northwest Airlines, the US' fourth-largest carrier, found itself in the grip of a potentially crippling strike as thousands of its mechanics, cleaners and other service employees walked off their jobs rather than agree to painful concessions. Bangladesh Bangladesh was brought to a standstill by a nationwide strike called by the opposition to protest a wave of bombings earlier in the week linked to an Islamic extremist group. Ecuador Ecuador's defense minister quit amid a mounting crisis over protests that in oil provinces that have cut output in the key South American supplier to a trickle. Japan Riding on strong public support, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi launched his campaign for next month's general elections which are seen as a crucial vote on his privatization of the powerful post office. Russia The first ever large-scale Sino-Russian war games moved onto Chinese soil with the participation of elite troops from the two former adversaries, state media reported. US More than 160 people have been arrested and tons of drugs have been seized as a result of a hemisphere-wide US-led crackdown against three drug distribution networks, US officials announced. Britain Police in London are reviewing a shoot to kill policy after its first use took the life of an innocent Brazilian man, the head of the authority that oversees the Metropolitan Police told a newspaper.