Mideast Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas vowed to reach a negotiated end to the vicious circle of Middle East violence as he was sworn in against a grim backdrop of deadly clashes in Gaza and a freezing of contacts by Israel. China Deposed Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang remained in a coma, while the state-controlled press refrained from reporting on the condition of the former leader removed from power after he opposed the use of force in the quelling of 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests. Iraq Iraq's interim government unveiled a security plan for election day, as the discovery of 18 executed Iraqis on roadsides across the country underscored the insurgency's ability to plunge the vote into chaos. US-Iraq A US soldier was sentenced to 10 years behind bars and a dishonorable discharge from the army for the notorious abuses of Abu Ghraib prisoners which he claimed he was ordered to carry out. Indonesia Indonesia's death toll from the earthquake and tsunami disaster has risen to 115,229, with the addition of 5,000 killed in the town of Calang, Aceh province, the social affairs ministry said. Australia Australians from the prime minister down observed a minute of silence as the country paid formal tribute to victims of last month's tsunamis. Bosnia-Serbs A Bosnian Serb wanted on charges of killing and torture of prisoners in a concentration camp during the 1990s was transferred to The Hague for trial before a war crimes tribunal after giving himself up. Afghanistan The UN refugee agency threatened to suspend aid for Afghan refugees in Iran unless Tehran stopped their forced repatriation. Iraq As the United States prepared to hand back the ancient ruins of Babylon to Iraqi authorities, a leading British archaeologist alleged that Polish and US troops had caused "substantial damage" to a site that dates back to the dawn of history. Space-Saturn Drainage channels, canyons, rivulets winding their way to a vast ocean of methane: these were some of the initial impressions of scientists to the first photos taken of Saturn's moon Titan which could provide clues to the origins of Earth.