Iraq Sixty-two people were killed and over 100 wounded in the Iraqi Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala by twin car bombs, marking a violent assault on the country's largest religious group as the countdown to January elections continues. Russia A mystery bidder grabbed the crown jewel of Russian oil giant Yukos in an auction that destroyed the country's top private firm, handing it to a shell company seen as a front for the state-run gas monopoly Gazprom. Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved the release of 170 Palestinian prisoners as he looked to bolster the new moderate PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas and cement his own hold on power by finalising a new broad-based coalition. China Chinese President Hu Jintao gave an unprecedented public dressing down to Hong Kong's leaders, a day after the territory's government was forced to postpone a major public property sale. Sudan African Union mediators battled to breathe life into Darfur's peace talks after the Sudanese government belatedly agreed to call off an offensive against rebel positions in the western region. US President George W. Bush was named Time magazine's Person of the Year, after a reelection victory that he said was about the "use of American influence." Chile Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet has regained consciousness after suffering a stroke that sent him to the hospital, doctors said, ahead of an appeals court ruling on criminal charges dating from his 17-year rule. Japan Japan forecast its economic recovery would lose some steam in the fiscal year to March 2006 amid global uncertainties and drafted an austere budget in which foreign aid falls to a 16-year low. Libya-Canada Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin became the latest in a parade of world leaders to meet Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi as the once pariah nation cements its emergence from diplomatic isolation.