Lebanon The US ambassador to Syria headed home for urgent consultations as Washington steps up pressure on Damascus following the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister. Iran Iran warned it would shoot down any US spy craft in its skies as a powerful earthworks blast triggered fears of an attack and underscored the high state of tension in Tehran's standoff with the West over its nuclear activities. Iraq A female Italian journalist held hostage by militants in Iraq made a heart-rending plea for her life in a videotape broadcast, as Iraqi politicians jockeyed for position in the new government. Mideast Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip took a major step forward when MPs approved a billion-dollar compensation package for the 8,000 Jewish settlers who are to be uprooted from their homes. Russia Three people were killed and five wounded in a car bomb attack targeting two senior leaders in the government of the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, local officials said. Sudan The UN's top human rights official added pressure on the United States to try war crimes committed in Darfur at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Europe US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she found a new spirit among US allies "to close the book on past differences" and boost cooperation during a regional swing earlier this month. Zambia Zambia's Supreme Court threw out a challenge to President Levy Mwanawasa's election victory lodged by opposition candidates three years ago, saying that while the ballot was flawed this did not affect the final result. Croatia UN war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has accused the Croatian government of deliberately failing to arrest and hand over a fugitive general, in a stinging rebuke that threw into doubt the opening of EU entry talks next month. Myanmar Myanmar re-launched a national convention aimed at framing a new constitution, despite the absence of the military-ruled nation's leading pro-democracy opposition party.