Mideast The Israeli cabinet approved the evacuation of a first batch of three Gaza Strip settlements despite the shock resignation of Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the landmark pullout. Mideast Israel placed three Jewish ultra-nationalists in administrative detention, resorting to powers normally used against Palestinians amid fears of violence by hardline opponents of this month's pullout from Gaza. Britain Haroon Aswat, a Briton apprehended in Zambia two weeks ago reportedly wanted in connection with last month's deadly bomb attacks in London, was arrested on his arrival in Britain after being deported from Lusaka, Scotland Yard announced. Iraq At least 39 people were killed in attacks across the country as Iraq's president announced a series of meetings of political leaders to negotiate issues holding up completion of the new constitution. NKorea North Korean nuclear weapons talks were broken off for three weeks with no sight of progress over Pyongyang's insistence on having atomic reactors for energy, a demand the United States rejected. China Rescuers were scrambling to save more than 100 workers trapped deep underground in a flooded coal mine in southern China as their chances of survival faded and water levels continued to rise. Iran Iran insisted there was no going back from its decision to resume uranium conversion in defiance of the European Union, despite an upcoming meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog and warnings of an international crisis. Russia Seven exhausted Russian sailors returned to dry land after a dramatic operation by a British undersea robot freed their mini-submarine three days after it became trapped on the Pacific Ocean floor. Italy Italian aviation experts were searching for clues to why a Tunisian-operated charter plane crashed-landed at sea off the Sicilian coast, killing 13 people and leaving three still missing. US Discovery's crew started final preparations for a pre-dawn return to Earth of the first shuttle flight since Columbia burst into flames upon re-entry in the atmosphere in 2003. SAfrica South Africa's leading mining union hit the world's top gold producer with its largest strike in 18 years as workers walked off job. US Long-time ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, known to millions of viewers for his congenial and matter-of-fact style, died after a brief but unsuccessful battle with lung cancer, his family and employer announced.