Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won approval from MPs for his Gaza pullout plan but failed to close debate on his project as ministers vowed to quit unless the issue was put to a referendum. Iraq Japan insisted it would not bow to the demands of Islamic militants in Iraq who threatened to behead a young Japanese drifter unless Tokyo pulled its troops from the country within 48 hours. Thailand Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra told parliament an inquiry team would investigate the deaths of 78 Muslims crushed on trucks after the break up of a demonstration this week. Japan A strong tremor measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale struck central Japan, already dealing with the aftermath of a series of powerful quakes, injuring 20 people and damaging buildings, officials said. EU The European Union's new commission appeared headed for defeat in a make-or-break parliamentary vote with a majority of EU lawmakers vowing to veto the executive arm. US President George W. Bush and his rival John Kerry traded blows over Iraq and taxes as they scrambled for votes in the final week of their presidential race and braced for another wild finish. Pakistan A national debate raged in Pakistan after President Pervez Musharraf outlined a range of bold new options for divided Kashmir that include independence, joint control with India and demilitarisation. Zimbabwe Zimbabwean immigration officials ordered a fact-finding mission from South Africa's biggest trade union movement to leave after they defied a government ban, the leader of the South African team said. US The US National Transportation Safety Board officially blamed pilot error for the crash of an American Airlines Airbus A300 in New York in 2001 that left 265 people dead. Britain Radio DJ John Peel, one of the key figures in British rock music over the past 35 years, who championed virtually every important act of that period on his long-running show, has died after a heart attack, the BBC announced.