Ukraine Ukraine's civil servants went back to work for the first time in weeks as the opposition lifted its blockade of government buildings and a political crisis eased following a compromise with the ruling regime. NATO NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer hailed an agreement with Russia to back free elections in Ukraine, saying it was a "major breakthrough" and denying an East-West conflict over the ex-Soviet republic. Iraq US Secretary of State Colin Powell pressed Europe to overcome its differences on the 2003 US-led invasion and rebuild Iraq, as the Pentagon revealed that elite US troops abused Iraqi prisoners with stun guns. Congo Troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have begun redeploying in the east after reports that neighbouring Rwanda had sent its soldiers across the border to deal with Hutu extremist rebels there, the defence minister in Kinshasa announced. Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was facing a key hurdle to his plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip as his own party members voted on whether to allow the main opposition faction into government. North Ireland The Irish Republican Army said it remained committed to the peace process in Northern Ireland, but not if that meant "humiliation" in the face of its unionist rivals. Philippines Philippine rescuers were frantically digging for more survivors after four people, including a toddler, were pulled alive from a building crushed by a landslide 11 days ago. Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced the extension of Japan's historic troop deployment to Iraq for another year, saying Tokyo must help the nation rebuild. Italy A panel of three judges began deliberating a verdict in Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's long-running corruption trial, with a decision not expected before Friday at the earliest, the court said. US A sacked CIA official is suing the agency for allegedly retaliating against him for refusing to falsify his reports on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to support the White House's pre-war position, The Washington Post said.