Zimbabwe The leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party Morgan Tsvangirai was cleared of charges of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe, a step he said could pave the way for a national reconciliation in the deeply divided nation. Iraq US ground troops advanced on the Iraqi rebel bastion of Fallujah after a night of deadly air assaults, while a Baghdad car bombing killed a civilian in a bloody start to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. UN The United Nations on Friday elected five new members of the UN Security Council for two-year terms starting on January 1 -- Argentina, Denmark, Greece, Japan and Tanzania. Mideast Israel scaled back its vast operation in northern Gaza despite the deaths of four more Palestinians as tens of thousands of Muslims joined the first prayers of Ramadan at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque. US Democrat John Kerry, sharpening his populist tone as he chased votes in the US heartland, accused President George W. Bush of bleeding middle-class Americans while lining the pockets of the most wealthy. US Republican President George W. Bush pushed ahead of Democratic rival John Kerry in a new Zogby poll out, two days after the candidates' last debate. Libya Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi called on the West to thank him for making the world a safer place and said his country supported the war against terror as German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder visited. Cameroon The two main opposition parties in Cameroon repeated accusations that the presidential vote held in the central African country earlier this week was little more than a masquerade, and called for it to be annulled. Burundi War-ravaged Burundi will hold landmark elections in the spring of 2005, President Domitien Ndayizeye announced on his return from a regional summit in Nairobi.