Iraq A fresh car bomb attack killed 17 people south of Baghdad, as violence continued to engulf Iraq ahead of the announcement of the country's election results. Germany The United States and Europe agreed on a need to renew their transatlantic security vows to confront Islamic extremism and other modern threats, but acknowledged they did not yet know how to adapt their old alliance to new dangers. Pakistan The death toll from a week of severe weather in Pakistan approached 200 as authorities said they had recovered 80 bodies after a dam burst and scores were killed in avalanches. Togo Two protestors were killed and two policemen badly hurt in an opposition demonstration against the assumption of power by the son of Togo's late ruler Gnassingbe Eyadema, Interior Minister Francois Akila Esso Boko said. Togo Togolese officials began talks with West African leaders after being summoned to justify the constitutional manoeuvre that put Faure Gnassingbe into power on the death of his father a week ago. Mideast Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas was to hold talks with leaders of the radical Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements in a bid to persuade them to sign up to a permanent ceasefire with Israel. US Major literary figures from around the world mourned the passing of American playwright Arthur Miller, calling him a leader in both literature and life. Nepal Traffic on Nepal's roads slowed to a trickle as a transport blockade called by Maoist rebels began to take effect, while officials reported that rebels were massing in the remote west of the Himalayan outpost. Iran EU negotiators showed themselves to be more serious in the latest round of talks with Iran over its nuclear program but considerable differences remain, Tehran's senior negotiator said. Zimbabwe Zimbabwean police arrested at least 40 women in the country's second largest city of Bulawayo during a pre-Valentine's Day march "to spread a message of love," one of the organisers of the march told AFP.