Iraq An aide to Iraq's top Shiite cleric was murdered barely a fortnight before elections Shiites are tipped to win, as gunmen seized a Turkish businessman outside a Baghdad hotel, killing seven of his Iraqi employees. Indonesia Rebels in Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh called for ceasefire talks to help the relief aid effort as new restrictions on foreign relief workers in the province prompted Washington to demand clarification from Jakarta. SAfrica Mark Thatcher, the son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, pleaded guilty in a Cape Town court to charges linked to an alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea and immediately left South Africa. Russia Russia said Thursday it may take a long time to prepare a peace agreement with Japan ending hostilities dating back to World War II and stuck firmly to its position on the disputed Kuril Islands. Britain Britain's Prince Harry came under intense pressure to make a public apology after being pictured in Nazi military outfit just a fortnight before the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Israel Israel asked Russia to cancel a reported deal to sell missiles to its foe Syria, while striving to avert a deterioration in vital ties with Moscow. Iran UN nuclear inspectors visited the suspect military site of Parchin in Iran that the United States claims may be involved in covert nuclear weapons work, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) spokesman said. France The Paris prosecutor's office announced a preliminary enquiry to determine if the veteran far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen broke the law when he described the Nazi occupation of France in World War II as "not especially inhumane." Asia Leaders of the world's smallest islands joined UN chief Kofi Annan in calling for action to curb the effects of climate change, with the Pacific atoll of Kiribati accusing polluting countries of waging "eco-terrorism." Britain British Prime Minister Tony Blair took the wraps off his blueprint for re-election, promising an "unremittingly New Labour third term" aimed at providing "personal prosperity for all".