Iraq US ground troops advanced on the Iraqi rebel bastion of Fallujah after a night of deadly air assaults, while a Baghdad car bombing killed a civilian in a bloody start to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Zimbabwe The leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party, Morgan Tsvangirai, who was accused of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe, was acquitted of treason by the High Court in Harare. US US President George W. Bush and his Democratic rival John Kerry focused their attention on the crucial Midwestern region as they began crisscrossing key battleground states 18 days before the election. US George W. Bush's policies have stirred up deep global resentment and the world would much prefer John Kerry to be the next US president, research by leading global newspapers showed. Mideast Israel scaled back its vast operation in northern Gaza but three more militants died, as tens of thousands of Muslims joined the first Friday prayers of Ramadan at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque. Kenya African leaders meeting at a regional summit in Kenya postponed landmark elections in war-ravaged Burundi and extended a period of transitional government that had been due to end on November 1. Afghanistan Security experts warned of a resurgence of violence after Afghanistan's historic presidential election as vote counting was delayed for a day by the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. Libya German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder met Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi at the start of a visit seen as further confirmation of the north African state's return to the international fold. Indonesia Indonesian prosecutors said they had formally charged militant Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir with involvement in a suicide bombing last year at Jakarta's JW Marriott hotel in which 12 people died. Italy Italy's highest court partially cleared seven-time prime minister Giulio Andreotti of colluding with the Mafia but failed to remove lingering doubts about any links before 1980.