Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave his army orders to crush militants in the Gaza Strip as the Palestine Liberation Organisation called for an end to attacks that "harm the national interest". Indonesia Foreign forces including the US Navy can continue tsunami relief operations in Indonesia beyond a March 26 deadline, the government said as the disaster's overall death toll topped 168,000. Thailand At least 2,500 Myanmar migrant workers were killed in a single Thai province when it was lashed by tsunamis on December 26, Myanmar non-governmental organisations based in Thailand said. Afghanistan Eighty Afghan detainees were released from US custody at Bagram air base near Kabul ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid as part of an attempt to bring moderate Taliban supporters in from the cold, officials said. Iraq Supporters of radical Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr demonstrated for the second day running to demand better living conditions, a rare display of popular interest in an electoral campaign which has so far been stifled by relentless violence. Spain The armed Basque separatist group ETA threw its weight behind an initiative by its political wing to open dialogue with the Spanish government on solving the Basque problem. Croatia Croatians voted in a presidential election runoff that is expected to return incumbent Stipe Mesic for a second five-year term in which he has promised to lead the former Yugoslav republic into the European Union. Germany "The gods smiled on us," said researcher David Southwood, one of about 250 scientists and technicians who were blissfully happy to be out of a job after the successful conclusion of the Huygens-Cassini mission to Titan. Kuwait Kuwait put nationwide security forces on full alert after busting a suspected Islamist militant cell that included Saudi citizens in a deadly shootout near a US base and the emirate's oil lifeline. Romania A 67-year-old Romanian became the oldest woman ever known to have given birth, although one of her twin girls died shortly afterwards, Bucharest's Giulesti Hospital said.