Saudi Arabia Gunmen suspected of links to Al-Qaeda stormed the US consulate in the Saudi port of Jeddah, triggering a bloody three-hour siege that left five staff and three attackers dead. Iraq The presidents of Iraq and the United States pledged there would be no delay to landmark elections on January 30 despite a flare-up of violence that left about 100 dead in three days. Ukraine European mediators took their third crack at defusing Ukraine's political crisis as outgoing President Leonid Kuchma insisted that the opposition agree to weaken the presidency ahead of a new vote to succeed him. China China signed a contract to buy 23 A319, A320 and A321 commercial jets from aircraft manufacturer Airbus in a deal worth close to 1.0 billion euros (1.34 billion dollars). Spain Seven bombs went off in as many Spanish cities, slightly injuring five people, after anonymous callers claiming to speak for the underground Basque separatist group ETA told a Basque newspaper to expect the explosions. Philippines Relief agencies battled bad weather to deliver supplies into storm-ravaged areas of the Philippines as the toll of dead and missing from two storms in one week exceeded 1,400, officials said. Mideast PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas held historic talks with Syria's president on the first official Palestinian visit since 1996 -- part of a post-Yasser Arafat push to forge stronger ties with Arab countries. Turkey Russian President Vladimir Putin, on a landmark visit to Turkey, lashed out at the West, accusing it of destabilizing the former Soviet Union by pushing its own interests in the name of promoting democracy. Britain Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, in London for talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said the world is "absolutely" less safe because it is failing to tackle the core causes of terrorism. Ivory Coast South African President Thabo Mbeki met his Ivory Coast counterpart Laurent Gbagbo and other top officials as he wrapped up a four-day peace-making trip to a nation embroiled in conflict since 2002. Nigeria Nigerian villagers and militants have stormed three oil pumping stations in the Niger Delta, halting production and trapping more than 100 workers on board, the energy giants Shell and ChevronTexaco said.