Iraq Influential Sunni Muslim clerics branded Iraq's election as illegitimate, dealing a blow to hopes of reconciliation, as 12 Iraqi soldiers were killed by rebels in the deadliest attack since the vote. Mideast The Israeli and Palestinian leaders were set for their first summit in more than four years after Ariel Sharon and Mahmud Abbas accepted an Egyptian invitation for talks on the shores of the Red Sea next week. Vatican Catholics around the world offered their prayers for the speedy recovery of ailing Pope John Paul II, who was spending a second night in a Rome hospital being treated for a respiratory illness. US President George W. Bush said that creation of a Palestinian state living at peace with Israel was "within reach," and that elections in Iraq had opened "a new phase" in US efforts there. Nepal The European Union joined international condemnation of Nepalese King Gyanendra's dismissal of his government and swearing in of a new cabinet dominated by royalists. Ireland Northern Ireland's fragile peace process was plunged into full-blown crisis as the IRA, the province's largest Catholic paramilitary group, withdrew an offer to destroy its stockpiles of weapons. Russia Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov has ordered all rebel fighters to observe a ceasefire for the month of February in their fight against Russian troops, a separatist web site reported, quoting an aide to Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev. Science Global warming will contribute to outbreaks of infectious disease, worsen shortages of water and food in vulnerable countries and create an army of climate refugees fleeing uninhabitable regions, a conference here was told. India India blamed regional turmoil for Prime Minister Manomohan Singh's decision to pull out of a summit of seven South Asian nations next week. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe deported a delegation of South Africa's largest labour federation upon its arrival in Harare for a second bid to stage a fact-finding mission ahead of parliamentary polls now due in March. Israel German President Horst Koehler told the Israeli parliament that responsibility for the Holocaust was an integral part of his country's national identity as he warned that the battle against anti-Semitism had not been won.