Ukraine Ukraine's pro-Western opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko said that he would ask parliament to vote a motion of no confidence in the pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. Ukraine Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma said that he was in favor of staging new elections in Ukraine to resolve a bitter dispute over a November 21 presidential vote won by his pro-Moscow prime minister. China The death toll from a blast in a north China coal mine rose to about 50 after more than 20 bodies were found, the Xinhua news agency said. US US Secretary of State Colin Powell said there is "no reason" why Iraq's scheduled January 30 elections should not go ahead on time, despite continuing concerns over violence and the reluctance of the country's Sunni minority. Iraq Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said that the level of violence in the country had decreased since US and Iraqi forces launched a massive operation to crush the insurgency in Fallujah. Mideast The Israeli opposition dealt a double blow to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's beleaguered government when it passed two no confidence motions but failed to gather enough votes to topple the coalition. Iran There is no time limit to Iran's suspension of uranium enrichment and the freeze should not be linked in duration to future talks with EU states, UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei said. Mozambique US former president Jimmy Carter hailed Mozambique's outgoing President Joaquim Chissano for shepherding his country to peace after a brutal 16-year civil war and said the transition was a model for Africa. US US President George W. Bush nominated 51-year-old Carlos Gutierrez, the Cuban-born head of cereals giant Kellogg Co., as his new commerce secretary. Mauritania The alleged mastermind of a string of plots to overthrow Mauritania President Maaouiya Ould Taya is on a hunger strike, his family and lawyers said Monday as the trial of his 180 co-conspirators resumed in the vast northwest African state.