Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is ready to meet Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, an aide to Sharon said, following their landmark summit in Egypt where the leaders agreed a ceasefire to end more than four years of bloodshed. Iraq Four Iraqi policemen were killed in a roadside bombing, adding to a grim tally of insurgent attacks on the country's security forces that have left more than 35 people dead in two days. US France and the United States declared a "new chapter" in their rocky relationship, ending two years of feuding over Iraq with pledges of cooperation to help stabilize the Middle East, after a visit to Paris by new US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. US US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due in Brussels for talks with NATO and the European Union, notably to prepare for a crucial visit by US President George W. Bush later this month. Vatican Pope John Paul II's continued hospitalisation has forced him to miss Ash Wednesday prayers for the first time in his 26-year papacy, as the once-taboo question of a possible resignation is openly debated. China China, which puts more people to death than the rest of the world combined, has executed at least 650 in the two months leading up to the Lunar New Year, rights group Amnesty International said. Asia Asia celebrated its most important holiday with traditional rituals and ceremonies as millions of people saw in the Lunar New Year with family and friends after a troubled year of the monkey. Russia A methane blast in a coal mine in Kuzbass, in southern Siberia, killed 17 people, with nine others presumed to be still trapped underground, Russian news agencies reported. Kuwait The leader of a cell which allegedly plotted to kidnap US soldiers and other Westerners in Kuwait died overnight in custody, a Kuwaiti security official said. SriLanka Sri Lanka accused Tamil Tiger rebels of ignoring security warnings as protests over the slaying of a top guerrilla leader and five others forced a brief suspension of parliament. Somalia Somalia's transitional government announced that it will begin relocating to Mogadishu from exile in 12 days amid hopes the lawless country may soon have its first functioning administration in 14 years. Nepal Activists in Nepal who escaped a roundup after the king seized power last week are regrouping underground to plan protests, sources said, as a rights group warned that detained leaders may "disappear".