Iraq Iraqi national guardsmen raided a Sunni mosque in Baghdad, sparking bloody clashes, while in the northern city of Mosul US-backed Iraqi commandos were poised to storm rebel strongholds. Sudan The Sudanese government and rebels signed a pledge to lay down arms in the two-decade war in southern Sudan by the end of the year, as the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution pushing for peace in the war-ravaged country. Africa UN chief Kofi Annan urged African leaders to overcome decades of suspicion and bring peace to the peoples living in the volatile Great Lakes region which has been ravaged by wars and genocide. SANTIAGO Asia-Pacific leaders arrived for an annual summit overshadowed by US President George W. Bush's "war on terror" and the menace of nuclear proliferation to North Korea and Iran. UN UN employees were expected to issue an unprecedented vote of no confidence in Secretary General Kofi Annan, after he pardoned the body's top oversight official, Dileep Nair, whom unions accuse of harassment and violating UN rules on hiring and promotion. Germany US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that the United States' huge current account deficit -- more than five percent of gross domestic product -- cannot be indefinitely financed by foreign countries and investors. Russia Russia set December 19 for the auction of Yukos's main unit in a move that will effectively destroy what last year was considered the nation's best-run oil company, while officials also slapped six billion dollars in new tax claims on the company. ICoast Colonel Philippe Mangou, the hawkish former leader of the Ivory Coast northern command responsible for recent attacks on rebel positions, was installed as overall head of the west African state's armed forces. Spain A leading journalist with the Arab television network Al-Jazeera, Tayssir Alluni, charged in Spain over his alleged links to the Al-Qaeda network has been re-arrested. France French police were investigating the disappearance of a colourful English aristocrat -- Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 66, the 10th Earl of Shaftesbury -- who spent much of his time partying on the French Riviera. Vatican One of the leading figures in the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, launched a passionate defence of Christianity and criticised what he called aggressive secularism in Europe. Belgium An individual who threatened to "ritually" kill a Belgian senator who criticized Islam has been arrested, judicial authorities said.