Iraq Saddam Hussein's top henchmen will start going on trial for crimes against humanity next week, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said, as he warned violence would increase after Iraq's landmark elections in January. NKorea-Japan North Korea warned that it would regard any sanctions imposed on it by Japan as a declaration of war and would hit back with an "effective physical" response. India Indian railway authorities blamed negligence for the cause of a head-on collision of two trains that left 38 people dead in northern Punjab state while newspapers attributed the tragedy to antiquated equipment. Mideast New PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas called for an end to the armed uprising, as Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza in the aftermath of the most lethal Palestinian attack since Yasser Arafat's death. Iraq Poland plans to cut the size of its force in the US-led coalition in Iraq from 2,500 troops to 1,700 in mid-February, Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski announced. Iraq-Britain A court backed an Iraqi family demanding the British government investigate the death of a relative, allegedly beaten to death while held in British military custody in Iraq. DRCongo The Democratic Republic of Congo army is fighting "a war against Rwanda" in the east of the vast country, a government spokesman said after two days of fighting in the town of Kanyabayonga had left dozens dead. France A French legal inquiry into the July 2000 Concorde crash outside Paris that killed 113 people presented its findings that put part of the blame on Continental Airlines -- exposing the US airline to potential lawsuits. Ukraine Ukraine's pro-Russia Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich scrambled to save his faltering reputation by denying that he supported the use of force against pro-Western opposition demonstrators. Malaysia Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia will buy 40 A320 jets from Europe's Airbus and plans to phase out its current Boeing fleet, a senior industry official said. Afghanistan Militants kidnapped a Turkish engineer in eastern Afghanistan after killing an Afghan security guard who was travelling with him, a government official and Western security sources said.