US US President George W. Bush announced he had ordered more than 7,000 additional active duty military forces to areas battered by killer Hurricane Katrina. France French President Jacques Chirac was hospitalized after suffering a minor vision problem that doctors said had been caused by a "vascular incident". Iraq Oil exports from Iraq's northern fields were completely halted following a rebel attack on a major pipeline west of the oil centre of Kirkuk, an Iraqi oil industry official said. Russia Stifling anguished cries, survivors of the Beslan tragedy and relatives of more than 300 dead hostages observed a minute of silence at the ruins of School Number One on the anniversary of the disaster. Syria Five members of the Islamist militant group Jund al-Sham were killed in clashes with Syrian security forces who raided their village hideout, the SANA news agency reported. Egypt The Egyptian judiciary authorised local non-governmental organisations to monitor the historic September 7 poll, a decision hailed as a major step towards ensuring a more transparent election. Afghanistan-Britain Afghan and foreign troops have found the body of a man presumed to be the British citizen kidnapped earlier this week in western Afghanistan, the British foreign office said. Nepal The leader of Nepal's Maoist rebels announced a unilateral three-month ceasefire starting immediately in an effort to facilitate talks with political parties in the Himalayan nation. Albania Albanian President Alfred Moisiu appointed former president Sali Berisha as prime minister and asked him to form a government following the victory of his centre-right coalition in the July 3 elections. China China raised the death toll from Typhoon Talim to at least 54, while 23 more people were listed as missing, state media reported. Mideast Palestinian children started their school year hoping that Israel's withdrawal from the war-weary Gaza Strip meant they were free of the military raids that made their student days a nightmare. Iran A tough report on Iranian nuclear activities sets the stage for last-minute diplomacy that could end with hauling Iran before the UN Security Council, analysts and diplomats said.