US US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he has seen no "strong, hard evidence" linking former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein with Al-Qaeda, backing away from his pre-war assertions that contacts between the two went back over a decade. US The former US governor of Iraq admitted the United States "never" had enough ground troops in Iraq to establish firm control of the country, directly contradicting assertions by President George W. Bush and top Pentagon officials. US Concerned over a loss of momentum after his debate with John Kerry, US President George W. Bush has abruptly scheduled a major speech for Wednesday in hopes of halting the erosion of his lead in the polls, The Washington Times reported. Mideast The UN Security Council was set to vote on a draft resolution calling for Israel to pull its troops out of Gaza after a huge onslaught that has left almost 80 Palestinians dead in less than a week. Spain Spain is to hold a referendum on the European Union's planned new constitution next February 20, a press report said. Afghanistan A fleet of helicopters escorted by fighter jets flew Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai to a rare campaign rally outside Kabul, just days ahead of landmark elections. Indonesia An emotional Megawati Sukarnoputri urged Indonesia to accept the results of landmark polls which delivered a landslide victory to her former security minister, clearing his path to the presidency. Cambodia Cambodia's parliament amended a series of laws to bring the kingdom closer to a long-delayed UN-supported trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders. Chechnya Chechnya inaugurated its latest pro-Moscow leader Alu Alkhanov as tanks and gun-toting soldiers secured the shelled out rebel capital five years into the latest guerrilla war. EU Romania and Bulgaria will be ready to join the EU on schedule in 2007, according to a European Commission report cited by a diplomatic source here. Italy Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi held talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose country has launched a tough policy aimed at stemming the tide of immigrants from north Africa, the official JANA news agency reported.