Russia Chechen rebels vowed to pursue and expand their fight for independence from Russia, calling the killing of their leader Aslan Maskhadov a fleeting coup for the Kremlin that obliterated any hope of a negotiated end to the conflict. Iraq Nineteen people were found shot dead on the Iraq-Syrian border, while a suicide truck bomb attack on Baghdad's agriculture ministry and a hotel killed two security guards and wounded 31. Lebanon Lebanon's Damascus-backed President Emile Lahoud opened consultations with MPs to try to form a new government, emboldened by a mass pro-Syrian rally in Beirut that drew hundreds of thousands of protestors. Mideast A top Palestinian official said that all armed militant groups were set to observe a truce but Israel voiced caution even as army commanders prepared to transfer control of West Bank towns to the Palestinians. Kosovo Former Kosovo prime minister and guerrilla fighter Ramush Haradinaj left Pristina to surrender to the UN war crimes court at The Hague, witnesses said. EU Croatia is still not fully cooperating with UN prosecutors hunting a key war crimes suspect, according to the chief prosecutor in a letter to the EU as it mulls whether to start entry talks with Zagreb. Bosnia A war crimes court was to starts its work in Bosnia in a milestone for justice in this Balkan country following the 1992-95 war that witnessed the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II. Britain Britain's interior minister Charles Clarke offered fresh concessions to save his government's anti-terrorism bill from withering attacks in both houses of parliament. China China ignored a US call for it to rethink a law that provides a legal basis for military action against Taiwan, telling lawmakers it was their "solemn mission" to pass the legislation. China China arrested over 800,000 people last year for a variety of crimes including endangering state security and being involved in separatist and terrorist activities. Bolivia Bolivia's Congress voted unanimously to reject President Carlos Mesa's resignation and agreed to pass a law increasing Bolivia's oil and gas revenues that the opposition said did not go far enough to stem the ongoing unrest in the country. Philippines Twenty-five primary school children died from apparent food poisoning after eating casava roots for their mid-morning snack in the central Philippine province of Bohol, officials said.