Iraq A tanker blast killed one person and wounded 19 in Baghdad on Christmas Eve as US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted on a surprise visit to troops in Iraq that they faced a bleak New Year. World Hundreds of millions around the world prepared to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, a Christmas festival of religious joy for many and commercial excess for others, against a backdrop of continuing global security fears. Mideast Muslims and Christians united in the hope that the festive season will herald a new dawn after four years of violence, attending midnight mass in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Ukraine Ukrainian authorities vowed to uphold public order during a crucial presidential election rerun this weekend, but tensions mounted as the vote drew near, prompting an assurance from Russia that it would not use underhanded tactics to affect the outcome. Honduras Honduran police investigated a massacre of 28 passengers on a bus strafed by gunmen who left a chilling message to President Ricardo Maduro and crime-busting politicians. Pakistan A Pakistani military court has sentenced one soldier to death and another to 10 years' hard labour in jail for involvement in an assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf last year, a military spokesman told AFP. Thailand Two people including a suspected bomber were killed and at least seven wounded in the latest blast blamed on Islamic separatists in insurgency-hit southern Thailand, police and hospital officials said. Japan Japan threatened retaliation against North Korea such as cutting off economic ties unless the communist state returned Japanese people it has kidnapped or gave a "sincere response" on their fate. ICoast A UN report has outlined horrific examples of death squads, mass executions, torture and rape in Ivory Coast during the past two years and blamed both sides for the atrocities, France's Liberation newspaper reported.