Iraq Iraqi Shiite leaders braced for greater violence but vowed to push ahead with elections in January after twin car bombs claimed the lives of 66 people in the pilgrimage cities of Najaf and Karbala. Ukraine Ukraine's presidential rivals were preparing for their sole televised debate in a lightning campaign ahead of a rerun election that was set after a disputed vote sparked a political crisis in the former Soviet republic. Macau President Hu Jintao hailed Macau as an economic and political success story on the fifth anniversary of its return to China, while levelling criticism of the leadership in neighbouring Hong Kong. Russia Yukos' jailed founder accused the government of "destroying" the nation's top oil group as mystery surrounded the new owner of its crown jewel, widely seen as linked to state-run gas giant Gazprom. Mideast Leading Jewish settlers were meeting to decide whether to call for civil disobedience in protest at Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and isolated settlements in the West Bank. Mideast Sponsors of the roadmap peace plan for the Middle East insisted that they would not allow Israel's planned withdrawal of soldiers and settlers from Gaza to thwart a more comprehensive settlement. Chile Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was in hospital recovering from a stroke, as an appeals court was set to rule on whether to drop the latest criminal charges against him. Rwanda Rwanda withdrew a threat to send soldiers into the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where Kinshasa accuses them of siding with rebels in this eastern town gripped by fighting.