Iraq At least eight civilians were killed and four wounded in a mortar or rocket attack on Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, home to the American embassy and the Iraqi government, a US army spokesman told AFP. Iraq-Japan Iraq's donors said the insurgency in the country was the biggest obstacle to reconstruction, as the interim government appealed for firmer world support for historic elections in January. Britain Britain ordered a freeze on the assets of Tawhid wal Jihad, the hardline insurgent group led by Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi behind a spate of hostage-takings and executions in Iraq. US US President George W. Bush and Democratic rival John Kerry trained their sights on the battleground state of Nevada after clashing on Iraq, terrorism, health and the economy in their third and final head-to-head debate. Bosnia-Hercegovina Bosnian Serb authorities admitted for the first time that Serb forces slaughtered more than 7,000 Muslims in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II. Mideast Five more Palestinians were killed in Gaza as Israel pushed on with a massive operation in the north of the territory despite criticism by officers that the offensive had become counter-productive. Pakistan-China One of two Chinese hostages and their five kidnappers were killed in a rescue operation by army commandos in Pakistan's remote tribal area, while the second hostage was safe, security officials said. US The United States announced a 54-billion-dollar trade deficit in August, the second largest on record, as it sucked in high-priced oil. China China and Russia signed an agreement in which Beijing formally endorsed Moscow's bid to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) as Russian President Vladimir Putin began a visit to China focused on expanding trade. Pakistan Pakistan's parliament approved a law prolonging President Pervez Musharraf's dual role as president and army chief, in a stormy session dominated by noisy opposition protests. Afghanistan After delays over fraud charges and boycott threats, the vote count in Afghanistan's presidential election finally began, five days after millions of men and women defied the Taliban to have their first say in their country's destiny. Somalia Veteran Somali faction leader and soldier Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was sworn in as the new president of his Horn of Africa country, as his African peers urged the international community to bankroll Somalia's emergence from more than a decade of turmoil.