Iraq Two suicide car bombs killed 11 people in an attack on a police highway patrol in Baghdad, one of the deadliest strikes on the capital since Iraq's elections more than 10 weeks ago. Iraq Britain might start withdrawing its troops from Iraq next year, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in an interview, in remarks suggesting the government was seeking an exit timetable for its 7,500 troops. US Laboratories worldwide scrambled to destroy samples of a lethal flu strain that killed up to four million people in the late 1950s and whose distribution by a US company sparked a World Health Organization alert. Czech The Czech Republic's three-party governing coalition agreed on the hotly disputed formation of a new cabinet, resolving a drawn-out political crisis, Prime Minister Stanislav Gross announced. Indonesia Indonesian scientists placed 11 volcanoes under close watch after a series of powerful quakes increased the chances of a major eruption as tens of thousands spent a third night in temporary camps on Sumatra island. Japan Japan's foreign minister said he would demand China end what Tokyo believes is official backing for mass anti-Japanese protests, as Chinese activists urged even bigger rallies this weekend. Vatican Conservative German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger emerged as a frontrunner in the race to find John Paul II's successor as thousands of pilgrims flocked to pay their respects at the tomb of the late pope. Kyrgyzstan US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld got the green light for continued use of a US airbase in Kyrgyzstan during talks with the new leadership in the Central Asian country. Warcrimes Slobodan Milosevic will not take the stand at his own war crimes trial, the former Yugoslav president, who is presenting his own defence, told judges at the UN tribunal trying him. Italy Embattled Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi struggled to keep his center-right coalition intact as his deputy threatened to resign and other coalition partners demanded, at the very least, a cabinet reshuffle. Zimbabwe A Zimbabwean court acquitted two British journalists from the Sunday Telegraph newspaper accused of illegally covering last month's parliamentary elections. Tanzania Authorities barred the head of the main opposition party from voter registration in Zanzibar, effectively nullifying his candidacy in elections that have triggered ongoing violence between rival parties. AFPLifestyle US pop princess Britney Spears confirmed that she is pregnant with her first child, ending weeks of frenzied speculation over whether she was launching a new career as a mother.