France Yasser Arafat is in a coma on life-support equipment in the intensive care unit of a Paris hospital, French medical sources said as confusion heightened over the Palestinian leader's condition. Mideast Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei will travel to the Gaza Strip on Friday for talks with top security officials as fears grow for the health of Yasser Arafat, Palestinian sources said. US President George W. Bush settled down to business, holding his first cabinet meeting after his decisive re-election and victory-speech vow to immediately to pursue his war on terror and reach out to a country divided by a bitter election campaign. US World leaders took stock of what four more years of George W. Bush in the White House will bring, with many hoping the president will vigorously pursue the war on terror and boost the Middle East peace process. Greece Greece sharply protested a US decision to recognize the former Yugoslav state on its northern border as "Macedonia", the same name as a northern Greek province where Alexander the Great was born. EU European Union leaders began arriving for a two-day summit set against the backdrop of US President George W. Bush's triumphant re-election and institutional crisis at the EU's executive arm. Taiwan Taiwan's High Court dismissed an opposition legal bid to annul the result of controversial March elections won narrowly by President Chen Shui-bian after a mysterious shooting, prompting a protest from opposition supporters. Iraq The fate of kidnapped aid worker Margaret Hassan hung in the balance as a deadline approached to hand her over to a group led by Islamic militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi unless British troops left Iraq. Iran Iran appeared set to bow to a key European demand aimed at ending a dispute with the international community over its nuclear program, at least temporarily, in the hope of avoiding a crisis. EU The European Commission's incoming head was said to be near to ending an institutional limbo by unveiling a new line-up for his new team, but was kept waiting by Italy hesitating over its nominee. Italy In a sideswipe at France and Germany on the eve of an EU summit, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi called on "spectator" countries to get off the fence and get involved in stabilizing Iraq. Ivory Coast Two Ivory Coast military aircraft carried out a second raid on Bouake, the stronghold of the former rebel New Forces (FN) in the divided west African country, a French military source said.