Indonesia: A controversial Japanese military aid mission arrived in Indonesia's disaster-hit Aceh even as civilian groups were taking charge of relief efforts, while a new earthquake sparked a tsunami panic. Iraq A suicide car bomb exploded near Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's party offices, killing two people as the Baghdad government announced the arrest of two lieutenants of Islamic extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Mideast The radical Islamist groups said they had narrowed their differences with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas over his calls for a ceasefire while insisting Israel would have to pay a price for peace. Russia Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he was coming to Moscow seeking a new path for peace in the Middle East rather than high-tech arms against arch rival Israel. Ukraine Ukraine's newly-inaugurated President Viktor Yushchenko flew to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin, moving quickly to reassure the leadership in Moscow on his plans to orient his country firmly towards the West. Britain Oil prices headed towards 50 dollars a barrel in the wake of freezing weather in the US northeast, a major consumer of heating fuel, and ahead of an OPEC meeting and Iraq's elections. Health-flu-Vietnam-Thailand Myanmar Trials for more than 300 people linked to Myanmar's disbanded military intelligence unit began under a cloud of secrecy inside the notorious Insein prison, a legal source said. SAfrica South Africa: A white South African and two black accomplices accused of feeding a farm worker to a pride of lions pleaded not guilty as they went on trial in this small rural town. Europe A cold weather snap gripped much of western Europe with temperatures dipping below zero and snow and ice affecting traffic in many areas