US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who battled with Bush administration hawks over the Iraq war, has stepped down and senior officials said national security advisor Condoleezza Rice would take his place. Mideast Outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories at the beginning of next week, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said, confirming Powell's arrival on one of his last missions after four years as Washington's top diplomat. Iraq Gunfire and air strikes rocked the restive city of Baquba as violence raged across Iraq, despite a major assault on Fallujah where US-led forces hunted out final pockets of resistance. France France has asked the United States to give it access "as soon as possible" to the freed Syrian driver of two French reporters being held hostage in Iraq since August, Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said. Spain The first trial of a suspect implicated in the Madrid train bombings is set to open with a 16-year-old youth in the dock facing up to eight years in detention for allegedly handling the explosives used in the attacks which left 191 people dead. Europe Europe's first mission to the Moon, the unmanned exploratory probe SMART-1, has been safely placed in lunar orbit after a voyage of more than 13 months, the European Space Agency announced. ICoast The UN Security Council voted unanimously to impose an immediate arms embargo on Ivory Coast as the exodus of foreign nationals from the troubled west African nation gathered pace. Japan China has told Japan it regrets the intrusion of a submarine last week into Japanese waters and that the incident will not further sour the Asian powers' ties, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai was hopeful three UN workers being held hostage would be released, his spokesman said hours ahead of a deadline set by Islamic militants who have threated to kill the trio if their demands are not met. Japan Two Japanese ministers called for economic sanctions against North Korea, outraged at the Stalinist state's inconsistent accounts of what happened to Japanese nationals kidnapped in the Cold War. India The Indian army will start to reduce the number of troops in revolt-hit Kashmir shortly, in line with an announcement last week by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the army chief said.