China Rescuers said at least 25 miners were killed in a major gas explosion at a coal mine in north China's Shaanxi province, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Ukraine Ukraine's pro-Russia regions threatened to split off from the European-leaning west of the country after a disputed presidential vote that has left Moscow and Western capitals glowering at each other across a Cold War-like divide. Iraq Iraq's landmark January polls looked set to take place as planned, although ongoing violence did nothing to alleviate the security concerns of political parties seeking a delay. Egypt PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas held talks in Cairo, obtaining UN and Egyptian support for January's landmark elections to choose a successor to late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Palestinian security forces should be the only group in the occupied territories allowed to carry weapons, Palestine Liberation Organisation chairman Mahmud Abbas said. Kazakhstan Two explosions shook the offices of the party of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan's financial capital Almaty, police officers at the scene said. Romania Romanians rang the end of an era as they voted for a president to succeed Ion Iliescu and lead the former communist country into the European Union. Iran Iran may be backing down on a demand to exempt some equipment from a freeze on fuel enrichment that can make atomic weapons, and EU states look like they will endorse it as a confidence-building measure, diplomats said. France France's political sphere changed dramatically when Nicolas Sarkozy, the ambitious finance minister, was formally named the new leader of the ruling conservative party -- widely seen as the start of his march to replace Jacques Chirac as French president in 2007. Mozambique Mozambique's political parties wrapped up their campaigns with colorful and raucous rallies as the southern African country headed into its third elections since the end of a bloody war that left up to one million dead.