Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon kept his controversial plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip on track when he won approval from his own party to form a new national unity coalition government. Iraq Iraq's majority Shiites have unveiled a major alliance ahead of next month's landmark elections, as NATO said it would boost its military training mission in the country still wracked by violence more than a year after Saddam Hussein was ousted. NATO NATO and Russia issued a joint call for free and fair elections in Ukraine, in what NATO's chief hailed as "a major breakthrough" in defusing tension between the West and Moscow. Japan Japan approved an overhaul of its military policy to take account of threats from China and North Korea and to allow defense exports to the United States. US The United States gave UN Secretary General Kofi Annan a belated show of support but said the United Nations remains under a cloud over allegations of corruption in Iraq. Canada Canada's Supreme Court gave the government the go-ahead to change the definition of marriage, a famous victory for gay and lesbian groups battling for equal rights. China Thirty-three workers were killed after a gas explosion at a coal mine in north China, once again highlighting the appalling safety standards blighting the industry, officials said. US A United Airlines jumbo jet took off from San Francisco at the start of the historic first US commercial flight to Vietnam since the fall of Saigon nearly 30 years ago. Ghana Incumbent President John Kufuor has been re-elected president of Ghana, according to official results announced by the president of the electoral commission, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan. Philippines Philippine rescuers were digging through the rubble of a collapsed building for more survivors, as the number of dead and missing from two storms which lashed the country rose to nearly 1,600.