Lebanon The Syrian army completed the first stage of a planned pullback from Lebanon ahead of schedule, with some 4,000 troops having returned home, as more symbols of its near-30-year presence in the country were hauled down. Sudan A group of UN experts called for concrete action by the UN Security Council to end the civil war in Sudan's Darfur region, where it said killings, rape, torture, abductions and forced displacement are daily occurrences. Mideast Israel and the Palestinians pledged to observe an informal truce until the year-end although militants stopped short of declaring the full ceasefire the international community had hoped for. NIreland President George W. Bush promised to help the McCartney sisters from Belfast seeking justice for their slain brother, while encouraging moves to get the Northern Ireland peace process back on track, officials said. US Suspected terrorists in US custody have been transferred to third countries for the past 20 years, CIA director Porter Goss told senators, as the United States comes under fire for "outsourcing" torture to nations with questionable human rights records. Iraq After the historic opening of their elected parliament, political heavyweights bartered on the make-up of Iraq's next government, seeking a balance among the nation's fractious ethic and religious mix. Germany German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder put forward a package of tax cuts to revive an ailing economy crippled by record unemployment and hailed crisis talks with opposition leaders as a success. Japan US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due in Japan on the latest leg of an Asian tour with the close allies set to talk strategy on North Korea but to clash openly over Japan's ban on US beef imports. China Uighur dissident Rebiya Kadeer arrived in the United States following her release from nearly six years of detention in China, according to Radio Free Asia. UN The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) has suspended or dismissed 12 of its civilian employees as it holds an inquiry into sexual abuse of minors, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.