Iraq US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a surprise visit to Iraq, as rebels launched an assault on a police station south of Baghdad, sparking a battle that left dozens dead. Vatican Pope John Paul II, just released from a nine-day stint in hospital, is keen to get back to work and was set to review his schedule in consultation with his doctors, according to Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls. NKorea Defiant North Korea faced deepening international isolation after it torpedoed talks to resolve the standoff over its nuclear weapons while vowing to build more atomic bombs. Asia A teenager who lived on wild fruits and coconuts for 45 days after tsunamis ravaged the Indian Ocean archipelago of Andamans in December has been rescued, police said. Pakistan The death toll from record heavy rain and snow across Pakistan hit 95 with more than 30 missing after a dam burst and washed away a number of villages. Philippines More troops were flown into the southern Philippines to quell a Muslim revolt, as a rival guerrilla faction called on the combatants to stop four days of fighting that left more than 80 people dead. Britain Britons reacted with mixed feelings to the news Prince Charles would wed his longtime love Camilla Parker Bowles, with papers praising the union even as people pined for the lost glamour of his first wife, the late Princess Diana. Mideast Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas was due to travel to Gaza City to hold talks with hardline militant groups and try to convince them to observe a ceasefire after renewed mortar and rocket attacks on Gaza settlements by the radical Islamist group Hamas. Iran EU-Iranian talks focused on persuading Iran to give guarantees it is not secretly developing nuclear weapons have been extended until Friday, diplomats said, as European leaders hinted progress was being made. NATO NATO announced a long-awaited expansion of its peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, a move strongly pressed for by Washington as it seeks to reduce pressure on stretched US troops worldwide. Nepal Security forces scoured western Nepal for 145 prisoners sprung from jail by Maoists, as the army vowed to foil a road blockade threatened by the rebels to protest King Gyanendra's seizure of power 11 days ago.