Iraq The final results of Iraq's general elections were due to be announced two weeks after Iraqis took part in their first free elections in half a century but amid relentless violence. Mideast The largest Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed to maintain an informal truce but the leadership failed to secure its signature to a mutual ceasefire announced with Israel earlier in the week. Germany UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was to address an international security conference here after a day which highlighted clear differences in approach between the United States and Europe. Spain Squadrons of firefighters battled a large blaze which broke out at an office block in central Madrid, spreading through several floors and forcing the evacuation of dozens of families from nearby apartments. Togo Three protestors were killed and three people seriously injured, including two policemen, in an opposition demonstration against the assumption of power by the son of Togo's late ruler Gnassingbe Eyadema, officials said. Russia Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Russia, both in support of and against controversial social reforms that have caused President Vladimir Putin's popularity to plummet. Vatican Convalescent Pope John Paul II was to lead the weekly Angelus prayer in his first public appearance since his dramatic return to the Vatican from hospital aboard his trademark Popemobile. Space Europe's Ariane 5 super-rocket lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana and placed into orbit two satellites it was carrying, in a successful operation more than two years after the first version of the launcher failed spectacularly. Venezuela The death toll after six days of torrential rain in Venezuela reached 26, with severe material damage in two southwestern states, according to officials. US A river of saffron ran through New York's Central Park as artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude unfurled their latest creation "The Gates" -- the largest public arts project the city has ever seen.