Spain Church bells tolled across Madrid and political and civic leaders stood in quiet reflection as Spain marked the first anniversary of the train bombings which killed 191 people, the country's worst-ever terrorist attack. Iraq Iraq's religious leaders called for calm amid fears of revenge attacks one day after a suicide bomber killed 47 Iraqis and wounded more than 80 in a packed Shiite funeral tent in Mosul. Lebanon Lebanon was locked in a tense political standoff, with an appeal for unity by its pro-Syrian prime minister being spurned by the opposition and with Syria facing a fresh ultimatum to quit its tiny neighbour. HongKong Hong Kong faced a new era of political uncertainty following the resignation of leader Tung Chee-hwa, with a row looming over how his replacement is chosen and pro-democracy protests planned. Mideast After months of hesitation, Israel appeared ready to hand over security control in a flashpoint buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border to Egyptian troops and to withdraw from the area as part of a broader Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip later this year. Britain Britain's parliament remained utterly deadlocked over the imposition of controversial new anti-terrorism laws, despite a near-unprecedented 18-hour debate lasting throughout the night. Britain Muslim cleric Abu Qatada, dubbed Al-Qaeda's "spiritual head" in Europe, and five other foreign terrorism suspects who have been held in Britain without charge were freed on bail, government sources said. US The US trade deficit rose to its second-highest level ever in January to stand at 58.3 billion dollars, from 56.4 billion dollars in December, the Commerce Department said. Russia Russia said it had agreed to speed up talks with Georgia on withdrawing from two Soviet-era military bases on Georgian territory after lawmakers in Tbilisi gave Moscow less than one year to clear out. Thailand Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra named his country's first elected single-party government, keeping his current finance minister but moving his foreign and health ministers from posts they held in his first term. DRCongo The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) launched a new military operation to crack down on militia activity in the northeastern Ituri region, a UN spokesman said here.