Iraq The United States announced plans to increase its forces in Iraq to their highest levels since last year's invasion, as the country's interim government engaged in a flurry of contacts to rally support for January 30 elections. Mideast The Palestinian leadership was in turmoil after jailed intifada leader Marwan Barghuti entered the presidential campaign, pitting himself against PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas. Ukraine All eyes fell on the supreme court of Ukraine after the country's two bitter presidential rivals agreed that the judges must decide how to resolve their furiously contested election -- with the option of a new poll seeming likely. Philippines Typhoon Nanmadol slammed into disaster-hit eastern Philippines, as rescuers battled to reach victims of an earlier storm that the military said had left more than 900 people dead or missing. Europe The euro hits new record highs, with the market continuing to focus on massive US current account and budget deficits despite talk of joint action by Japan and Europe to halt the dollar's slide. France In a boost to supporters of the EU's proposed new constitution, members of France's opposition Socialists voted "yes" to the plan in a ballot of party members. Bosnia The European Union was to take over peacekeeping duties from NATO on Thursday, nine years after the end of the bitter inter-ethnic war in the Balkan country, in what is the 25-nation-bloc's biggest military operation to date. Sweden Sweden's Supreme Court said it had sentenced the killer of Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh to life in prison, overturning an earlier appeals court verdict which had ordered him into psychiatric care. Congo International concern was growing after Rwandan President Paul Kagame announced that his country's troops will launch an operation in pursuit of Rwandan Hutu rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).