Chechnya Chechen rebels vowed to continue their battle against Russia after the death of their leader Aslan Maskhadov, sparking fears that the passing of the moderate chief will lead to increased attacks by radical separatists in the war-torn republic. Lebanon Caretaker pro-Syrian prime minister Omar Karameh was chosen to head a new government less than 10 days after he quit amid massive opposition protests, as Syria pressed on with a troop pullback. Iraq Thirty people were found shot dead in a known troublespot on the Iraq-Syrian border, while a suicide truck bomb attack on Baghdad's agriculture ministry and a hotel occupied by US contractors killed four and wounded 40. Nepal Nepal, facing growing world pressure to free political detainees, freed eight party leaders and activists arrested after King Gyanendra's power takeover, a party official said. Italy Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi insisted on "maximum collaboration" from the United States in a joint probe into the friendly fire killing of an Italian agent in Iraq, but played down any notion of a rift between the allies. Kosovo Former Kosovo prime minister and guerrilla leader Ramush Haradinaj surrendered to the United Nations war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, in a move that was widely praised. NIreland British Prime Minister Tony Blair threatened to exclude the main Catholic party Sinn Fein from Northern Ireland politics after he denounced the violent tactics of its IRA military wing. India Federal troops were on maximum alert in India's troubled northeastern state of Assam after a series of overnight blasts triggered by separatists killed a policeman and damaged vital installations, an official said. SAfrica South African rescue workers brought out 24 gold miners trapped following a quake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale in the country's central mining heartland and were in the process of rescuing 14 others, mining officials said. CostaRica Te last member of a band of hostage-takers surrendered to authorities, putting an end to a day long crisis in which nine people died.