China-Taiwan China's parliament passed a law giving its military the legal basis to attack Taiwan if it moves towards independence, a day after President Hu Jintao told the army to prepare for war. China-Taiwan Taiwan condemned China for passing an anti-secession law threatening the island with war, as lawmakers vowed to rally one million people to protest the legislation. Vatican Pope John Paul II returned to the Vatican, ending an 18-day stay at Rome's Gemelli hospital during which he underwent throat surgery which leaves him breathing with a tube in his neck. Lebanon-Syria Tens of thousands of Lebanese rallied to denounce a UN resolution demanding a Syrian military pullout as the government asserted its right to have a say in when the troops leave Lebanon. Mideast UN chief Kofi Annan, on his first visit to the Middle East in four years, hailed moves aimed at reviving the peace process as Israel reportedly decided to tear down rogue settler outposts. Iraq Kurdish leaders deflated hopes for the rapid formation of a national government in Iraq as they refused to compromise their demands for joining a coalition with the country's powerful Shiite bloc. Philippines Up to six people were killed in a bloody escape attempt by Muslim militants linked to Al-Qaeda at a maximum security prison in the Philippines capital, police said. CentrAfrica Voters in the Central African Republic in the heart of equatorial Africa turned out en masse for the first round of presidential and parliamentary elections to restore legitimate government two years after a coup. Pakistan-Iran Pakistan is to send used centrifuge parts to the UN atomic agency to help it figure out the origin of highly enriched uranium contamination found in Iran, diplomats said. US The Walt Disney Company's board of directors named company president Robert Iger to succeed chief executive Michael Eisner, who last year announced his decision to retire.