Iraq Iraq said it had killed Al-Qaeda's number two in the country, a claim denied by the group, as a suicide bomb attack on a police recruitment centre south of Baghdad left 10 people dead. Mideast Israel turned up the heat on Hamas in its Gaza stronghold after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fended off a bid to oust him as party leader over his decision to leave the Palestinian territory. Russia President Vladimir Putin used a televised question-and-answer session to repeat assurances that he will step down at the end of his second term and to promise Russians a share in the country's booming oil wealth. Britain British Prime Minister Tony Blair let it be known that he will not pull out of Iraq soon, or rush to pass the reins of power to his finance minister and heir apparent Gordon Brown. US The death toll from Hurricane Rita rose amid new wrangling over the government's disaster management as President George W. Bush again toured devastated parts of Texas and Louisiana. Afghanistan A candidate in this month's landmark parliamentary elections in insurgency-hit Afghanistan was gunned down while two US soldiers were killed in separate attacks. Chad Almost 50 people have been killed in a village in eastern Chad during an attack by an armed group from neighbouring Sudan and subsequent clashes with Chadian forces. Egypt Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak vowed to deliver on pledges for reform when he was sworn in for a fifth term in office after sweeping to victory in the country's first contested presidential poll. North Ireland A key Protestant politician dashed hopes of an end to Northern Ireland's political deadlock when he rejected international findings that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) had scrapped all of its weapons. US The United States and China were said to remain far apart in talks on rolling back a tidal wave of Chinese textiles exports which has worsened their stormy trade relationship.