Mideast Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said to be seriously ill, sent a message from his bedside to tell the world he was "okay" as teams of doctors prepared to carry out further tests. Iraq A US soldier and at least one Iraqi were killed when a bomb struck a patrol in southern Baghdad, as US warplanes bombed the rebel-held city of Fallujah in a bid to crush a deadly insurgency. Iraq Japan raced against the clock to free a young Japanese hostage in Iraq but had little reason for hope less than a day before the deadline set by al-Qaeda-linked militants for his killing. Russia A blast at a Siberian mine killed 13 men in the latest disaster to strike Russia's accident-prone industry that has been chronically short of funds following the Soviet collapse. Thailand Muslim separatists warned of a violent backlash against the brutal quelling of a riot that left 85 protesters dead in the south, as the Thai premier faced mounting questions over the handling of the incident. Indonesia An Indonesian Muslim cleric went on trial accused of leading the Al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiyah Southeast Asian terror network behind the deadly Bali and Marriott hotel bombings. EU Incoming EU Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said he would make "appropriate changes" to his team to put before the European Parliament in less than a month, in an interview on French radio. Latvia Latvian Prime Minister Indulis Emsis's minority government resigned after parliament rejected the draft 2005 budget, plunging this new EU member into political turmoil. Japan Rescuers found a three-year-old girl dead after an all-night battle to recover her from a crushed car where her brother miraculously survived after Japan's worst earthquake in a decade. Zimbabwe Zimbabwean police arrested a white lawmaker as he prepared to leave the country a day after parliament recommended that he be given a one-year jail term for shoving a minister during a debate, his lawyer said. Ukraine President Vladimir Putin was flanked by Ukraine's outgoing leader and his potential pro-Russia successor as the three oversaw a military parade celebrating Kiev's ties with Moscow two days before a crucial election.