Mideast Diehard settlers dug in for the final fight against Israel's historic Gaza Strip pullout as the army readied for hundreds of Jewish residents to leave by a midnight deadline. Iraq Iraq missed a crucial deadline to draft a new constitution, but parliament granted a one-week extension and US leaders endorsed the move, hailing "democracy at work" in Iraq. Japan About 80 people were injured when a powerful earthquake struck off the coast of northern Japan and caused a roof of a gymnasium to collapse, officials and reports said. Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made an impassioned defence of his Gaza pullout plan, saying he understood the pain of the settlers while warning of an unprecedented response to Palestinians who shunned his "hand of peace". Indonesia Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged to honor a historic agreement with separatist rebels from tsunami-hit Aceh province and urged the guerrillas to do the same. Greece The co-pilot of the Helios Airways jet that crashed in Greece killing all 121 people on board at the weekend had constantly complained of technical problems with the ill-fated aircraft, his grieving mother said. Canada-Iraq An Iraqi-Canadian businessman kidnapped in Baghdad earlier this month was killed despite efforts to pay a ransom, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said. Denmark Environment ministers from 25 countries are meeting for a conference on global warming in Greenland, Denmark's Arctic territory heavily affected by rising temperatures around the globe. Egypt A group calling itself "Egypt's mujahedeen," or holy warriors, claimed responsibility for a Sinai peninsula bomb blast that wounded two Canadian women peacekeepers, according to an Internet statement. Italy Italian authorities have made 141 arrests linked to suspected Islamic extremism and have initiated deportation proceedings against 701 people as part of sweeping reforms aimed at cracking down on the threat of terrorism. Iraq Iraq's former number two Tareq Aziz is ready for trial "as quickly as possible" by a special Iraqi court set up to try leaders of the Saddam Hussein regime, his lawyer told AFP.