Iraq- US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned the deadly chaos in Iraq will likely continue after the January 30 elections, as the military said the attack on a base in Mosul was apparently a suicide bombing. Mideast British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched his quest to bring peace to the Middle East, unveiling plans for a conference to prepare the Palestinians for statehood, during a landmark West Bank visit. Ukraine Tens of thousands of supporters of Ukraine's opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko massed in the center of the capital in a fresh show of force to press demands that a repeat presidential election be conducted fairly unlike a discredited poll last month. Iraq The French government insisted it paid no ransom to free two journalists kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq, but refused to publicly divulge details of the efforts that led to their release. Russia Russian state oil company Rosneft has become the new owner of Yuganskneftegaz by buying 100 percent of the shares of previously unknown Baikalfinansgroup, which had purchased the main subsidiary of Yukos in an auction, the Interfax news agency reported. Saudi Saudi Arabia said it had recalled its ambassador from Libya and will expel the Libyan envoy in Riyadh over Tripoli's alleged role in a plot to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. Thailand More than half of all schools in one of southern Thailand's most strife-torn provinces have been closed following the murder of two teachers by suspected Islamic militants, education officials said. China All 44 North Koreans who forced their way into Canada's embassy in Beijing two months ago have left for an undisclosed third country, officials said after weeks of diplomacy. Mideast Palestinians in 26 municipalities across the West Bank headed to the polls as they get the chance to vote for their councillors for the first time in three decades. China China's second manned space mission will take place in September 2005, state media quoted a high ranking space official as saying.