Iraq The US military confirmed that its forces fired on and wounded an Italian female journalist who had just been released from captivity and killed a fellow passenger when their car sped up to a checkpoint on the road to Baghdad airport. Italy Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said his government had summoned Washington's ambassador to explain the wounding by US forces of freed hostage Giuliana Sgrena and the killing of a member of her Italian escort in Iraq. Syria Embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is poised to announce a major troop redeployment in neighbouring Lebanon, officials said, but it was unclear how far the pullback would go to meet UN demands for a complete withdrawal. US President George W. Bush stepped up calls for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, warning it that there could be "no half-hearted measures". China China announced a boost in military spending while working to allay fears that an anti-secession law on Taiwan constituted a move towards war as it prepared for its annual sitting of parliament. US Ballooning illegal drug revenues are fuelling global crime and terrorism, the United States warned in a report, expressing particular concern over the narcotics problem in Afghanistan and Myanmar. Ukraine Ukraine's former interior minister was found dead of an apparent suicide hours before he was due to be questioned over a murder of an opposition reporter. Mideast Buoyed by massive public support, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon looked more determined than ever to end Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip, defying furious opposition within his own Likud party. Vatican Pope John Paul II will perform his traditional Angelus blessing from his hospital window this weekend, the Vatican said, even though doctors have yet to decide on a date for his discharge. US The sister of Michael Jackson's alleged child sex victim choked back tears as she told how her brother became distant and withdrawn after a stay at the star's Neverland Ranch.