Iraq Gumen kidnapped a Catholic archbishop in Iraq's main northern city of Mosul in what the Vatican condemned as a "terrorist act" as persistent violence dogged the run-up to landmark January 30 elections. US-Iran US commandos have been operating inside Iran since mid-2004 selecting suspected weapons sites for possible air strikes, The New Yorker magazine reported in an article the Pentagon blasted as "riddled with errors." Iraq Far from the intimidation and violence facing voters in Iraq, the first of an estimated one million expatriates began registering to vote in the country's first free elections for half a century. Asia Three weeks after one of the worst natural disasters in global memory, survivors of the Asian tsunamis grappled with bureaucracy and politicking as the world's attention turned elsewhere. Mideast New Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas ordered an end to anti-Israeli attacks, issuing instructions for large numbers of security forces to deploy along the Gaza border with Israel. China Security was markedly stepped up in Tiananmen Square amid fears of protests related to the death of deposed Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang, who opposed a crackdown on 1989 democracy protests in the square. Spain A top Spanish government official said the demise of armed Basque group ETA may be near, raising hopes that peace could finally take hold after decades of separatist violence. Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin chastised the government and ordered a hike in pensions for the elderly after social security reforms that took effect at the start of the year sparked protests across the country pitting retirees against riot police. Ukraine Around 5,000 supporters of Ukraine's defeated presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich rallied in his eastern stronghold as the supreme court began hearing his final appeal over a rerun election. Iran Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi mounted a fresh challenge to the Islamic republic's hardline judiciary by parading dissidents who she said were seriously abused and tortured in jail. Australia Australia's Labor leader Mark Latham announced that he was resigning from the opposition leadership after only 13 months in the job, and bowing out of public life, because of poor health.