Mideast The Palestinian militant group Hamas announced a halt to Gaza-based attacks on Israel, even as two Islamic Jihad militants were killed in an Israeli air strike on the outskirts of Gaza City. Mideast Ariel Sharon stormed out of a meeting of his Likud party, which is to decide on when the Israeli premier should face a leadership contest, after his microphone was silenced before his keynote speech. Poland Poland veered to the right as exit polls put two conservative parties in firm control of parliament, in the first national vote since the central European country joined the EU last year. Lebanon A prominent Lebanese Christian television journalist and critic of Syria's role in Lebanon was seriously wounded as an explosion ripped apart her car, in the latest in a string of bomb attacks. Britain Canadian General John de Chastelain will on Monday announce the disarming of the Irish Republican Army under his supervision, officials said. US Floodwaters stopped flowing into New Orleans as crews patched up a levee overwhelmed by Hurricane Rita's waves, a military official said. World Bank The 184 members of the World Bank and the IMF threw their weight behind a plan to accord some of the planet's poorest countries billions of dollars in critically needed debt cancellation. Iran Iran reacted angrily to a UN denunciation of its nuclear activity, but diplomats and officials said it was still possible to negotiate a way out of the crisis before it lands before the UN Security Council. Britain Britain's Labour Party kicked off its annual conference, bolstered by its re-election four months ago but with everyone wondering exactly how long Tony Blair will remain prime minister. Germany Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder resisted mounting pressure to step aside to break the political deadlock gripping Germany following an inconclusive general election one week ago. Spain Spanish ecologists expressed dismay at the latest visit to the British territory of Gibraltar on Spain's south coast of HMS Trenchant after the nuclear submarine docked over the weekend.