Iraq The United States designated the Iraqi insurgent group of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi a "foreign terrorist organization" and slapped on sanctions, a day after they claimed responsibility for deadly twin attacks in Baghdad's Green Zone. UN The United Nations elected five new members of the UN Security Council for two-year terms starting on January 1 -- Argentina, Denmark, Greece, Japan and Tanzania. US Britain, France and Germany told the United States they will offer Iran incentives next week to persuade it to halt uranium enrichment activities, in a bid to avoid a showdown over UN sanctions. Mideast Israeli troops began redeploying in the Gaza Strip in what appeared to be a step toward an announced scaling back of their operation there, during a day in which four more Palestinians were killed. Russia A Russian Soyuz TMA-5 spacecraft carrying Russian cosmonauts Salizhan Sharipov and Yuri Shargin and US astronaut Leroy Chiao, successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS), mission control said. US New York's main crude oil price bolted to a record 55 dollars a barrel as traders fretted about stretched supplies, hot demand and thin stocks of winter heating fuel. Belgium The European Union confirmed that the World Trade Organization had ruled its subsidies for sugar production are illegal, but said it would appeal. CostaRica Former Organization of American States (OAS) head Miguel Angel Rodriguez was arrested and handcuffed on arrival here, in connection with suspected bribes from his term as Costa Rican president, officials said. 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. 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 rich. US The United States and China failed to make headway to get multilateral talks on the Korean nuclear crisis back on track following North Korea's refusal to return to the negotiating table.