US-Lebanon-Syria The United States recalls its ambassador to Syria for urgent consultations and signals a new deterioration in ties after the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in Beirut. Lebanon Lebanese in mourning prepared to pay a last farewell to their slain former prime minister Rafiq Hariri at an emotional and politically-charged funeral in the heart of Beirut. Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon forged ahead with his Gaza pullout plan, revealing he has begun coordinating on the project with the Palestinians, as a bill to compensate Jewish settlers was tabled in parliament. Iraq The Shiite list that won Iraq's elections has agreed to present Vice President Ibrahim Jaafari as its candidate for the premiership, as parties haggled over the makeup of the next executive. Iran Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, each said they were hopeful of an Iran-EU agreement on Tehran's disputed nuclear program. NKorea North Korea, which declared last week to have built nuclear weapons, marked the birthday of supremo Kim Jong-Il with a pledge to continue bolstering arms against the United States. Japan The Japanese economy was in recession for most of 2004 as official figures showed three successive quarters of negative growth, upsetting forecasts as slower exports and consumption hit output. Germany German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he stood by his controversial plan to reform NATO despite criticism that he was undermining the US-led military alliance and Berlin's ties with Washington. US Pop legend Michael Jackson was rushed to a California hospital after being struck down by flu on his way to his child molestation trial, delaying the case for a week. US-France Credit Lyonnais and the French government tentatively agreed to pay 600 million dollars to settle the allegedly fraudulent 1991 purchase of California insurer Executive Life, an official said. Pacific Twin cyclones battered three south Pacific nations, as weather experts warned they could combine into a single destructive storm vortex wreaking havoc across the region.