Policemen and rescuers gather around the body of a blast victim at the site of two suicide blasts in Wah, Pakistan, 21 Aug 2008

PAKISTAN-BOMBING: Police in Pakistan say two suicide bombers have killed at least 45 people outside the nation's main weapons complex. At least 70 others were wounded in the blasts.
Authorities say the attackers blew themselves up simultaneously outside the facility today (Thursday), as workers headed home at the end of their shifts. The heavily guarded arms complex is located in the town of Wah, about 35 kilometers west of the capital, Islamabad.

AFGHANISTAN-UNREST:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy (l) speaks with French soldiers from the 8th regiment of paratroopers at Warehouse camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, 20 Aug 2008

Three soldiers with the U.S.-led NATO coalition force in Afghanistan have been killed in a roadside bomb blast, the latest casualties in a growing wave of attacks carried out by Islamic insurgents.
Officials say the soldiers were killed Wednesday in Ghazni in eastern Afghanistan. They have been identified as Polish by that country's defense ministry. A fourth soldier was wounded.
The blast occurred days after 10 French soldiers were killed in a battle with suspected Taliban forces east of Kabul. It was the worst death toll for foreign soldiers since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,  Aug 2008

IRAQ: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on a previously unannounced visit.
Rice is expected today (Thursday) to hold talks with Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, on a security deal that will determine the future status of U.S. forces in Iraq.
She says U.S. and Iraqi officials have made great progress on the agreement but cautioned it is not yet complete. She says there are still issues about how the U.S. forces will operate in Iraq.
Earlier, news agencies quoted Iraqi and U.S. officials as saying the two sides had completed a draft security agreement.

SPAIN PLANE CRASH:

A Red Cross worker speaks on her cell phone near the body of a victim of the Spanair jet crashed at Madrid airport, 20 Aug 2008

Authorities are investigating what caused a Spanish passenger jet to crash on takeoff from a Madrid airport, killing 153 people in the country's worst air disaster in more than two decades. The Spanair plane was carrying 172 people, including the crew, when it veered off the runway during takeoff Wednesday, broke into pieces and burst into flames. Spain's Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez said most of the 19 people who survived the accident were injured.

Deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Pojaman Shinawatra arrive at criminal court in Bangkok, 31 Jul 2008

THAILAND-PROTEST: About one-thousand people have rallied outside Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok, demanding deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife be returned to the country to face corruption charges. The two are traveling on Thai diplomatic passports which the protesters said should be immediately revoked.