SAsia Pakistan said up to 40,000 people were feared dead in the weekend earthquake, as frustration over the slow rescue effort turned to anger and scattered looting. SAsia Pakistan confirmed it had accepted an aid offer from neighbouring nuclear rival India to cope with the earthquake devastation in Kashmir, the disputed territory that twice brought them to war. Germany Germany broke new political ground as Angela Merkel won the battle to be its first female chancellor, heading a government uniting the country's two biggest parties and ending Gerhard Schroeder's grip on power. Iraq An attack on Arab League envoys underscored a growing campaign of insurgent violence five days before Iraqis vote on a new constitution that has sharply divided Shiites and Kurds from Sunni Arabs. Afghanistan Two blasts ripped through volatile southern Aghanistan's Kandahar city, one of them a confirmed suicide attack and the other killing three people, officials said. Mideast A summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas was postponed after both sides acknowledged that it was unlikely to yield results. Morocco Officials in Morocco began flying home hundreds of west Africans as well as packing buses with people who trekked to the country in hope of crossing the Mediterranean for new lives in Europe. Sudan Most of the 38 African Union (AU) peacekeepers taken hostage by rebels in Sudan's troubled Darfur region were released, as UN chief Kofi Annan condemned the kidnappings and called for action by Khartoum.