Mideast Protestors set abandoned houses ablaze in the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces surged towards a synagogue complex in the largest settlement in the Palestinian territory, where radical youths took refuge after ignoring an ultimatum to leave. Vatican An emotional Pope Benedict XVI arrived in his native Germany sparking a rapturous ovation from a welcoming party of young pilgrims at the start of the first foreign visit of his pontificate. Saudi The suspected chief of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, Saleh al-Ufi, was killed in clashes between police and suspects in the holy city of Medina, the interior ministry confirmed. Bangladesh Bangladesh security forces arrested almost 90 people in connection with a wave of simultaneous bombings that police said were linked to a banned group of Muslim extremists. Russia Longtime adversaries Russia and China launched their first-ever joint wargames in a show of military might they insisted was not aimed at any other country after the United States expressed concern. Greece Greece and Cyprus pledged to speed up a probe into the Cypriot airliner tragedy that killed 121 people at the weekend, as media reports said the doomed plane's pilots had reported an electronics system problem shortly before the crash. Britain London's police chief faced growing calls to resign over the shooting of an Brazilian wrongly suspected of being a suicide bomber, as reports emerged that he tried to stop an inquiry into the killing. Iraq Four US soldiers were killed in Iraq, a day after 43 people died in rush-hour Baghdad bombings which the government said sought to create a sectarian crisis in the war-torn country. Afghanistan Afghanistan's Taliban rebels released a kidnapped Lebanese engineer whom they had earlier threatened to kill him unless his company pulled out of the war-torn country. Pakistan Pakistani voters went to the polls for local elections that are being seen as a test of President Pervez Musharraf's fight against Islamic hardliners and his commitment to women's rights.