Iraq The bodies of 49 new Iraqi army recruits were found near the town of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, the police chief of the province of Diyala said. Iraq Iraqi and US forces launched operations to verify the extent of disarmament in Baghdad's Sadr City, three days after the end of a 10-day weapons buyback programme in the predominantly Shiite district, police said. Japan Overturned cars, crumbled homes and shattered roads greeted rescue workers after Japan's deadliest earthquake in almost a decade stunned residents used to bearing up through the nation's frequent tremors. Iran Iran described a European proposal aimed at ending a nuclear standoff as "unbalanced" and rejected demands that the Islamic republic halt all uranium enrichment activities. Mideast The Israeli cabinet was set to approve a package of compensation for settlers who are to be uprooted from their homes as part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza pullout plan. India The leader of Indian Kashmir's main opposition party, Omar Abdullah, escaped assassination for the second time in a month when Muslim rebels hurled a bomb at him, police said. US John Kerry and George Bush swapped tropical Florida for parched New Mexico as they wooed long converted and still uncertain voters in the waning days of the White House race. North Korea North Korea intensified its anti-US diatribe on the eve of Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to South Korea, after threatening to bolster its military deterrence to "hostile" American acts. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, acquitted of treason earlier this month, left the country for the first time in nearly two years on a whirlwind tour of the region, his spokesman said. Tunisia Polls opened in Tunisia for legislative and presidential elections in which the ruling party of long-time President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is widely tipped to come out victorious. Lithuania Lithuanians voted in second round elections to parliament, in which a Russian-born tycoon's party was set to capture the most seats, giving him a likely government role in this new EU member. Nauru The reformist government of financially stricken Nauru was returned to power, paving the way for a tough budget aimed at reversing the fortunes of the central Pacific nation.