Iraq A British official from a leading international aid agency was kidnapped in Iraq as four Iraqi national guards were killed and scores wounded in a mortar attack on their base. UN Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Sharah rejected a new UN Security Council resolution calling on Syria to remove its troops from Lebanon as "illegal intervention". Germany Nearly 40,000 people in Germany, backed by expressions of support elsewhere in Europe, took to the streets to protest plans by US auto giant General Motors to axe about one-fifth of its European workforce and possibly even close a plant. Iraq Britain looked set to agree to a US request to send its troops into violence-plagued areas of Iraq, a move Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted had no connection to the tight election race faced by close ally President George W. Bush. Thailand Myanmar's Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt -- among the most reformist of the military regime's leaders -- has been sacked and placed under house arrest for alleged corruption, a Thai government spokesman said. India India's most wanted criminal Koose Muniswamy Veerappan, accused of more than 100 murders and on the run for decades, has been shot dead after driving into an elaborate police trap, officials said. US John Kerry mounted a furious counter-attack against George W. Bush on national security, seeking to regain the momentum in their heated presidential race two weeks before polling day. Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appeared to have seen off pressure for a referendum on his controversial Gaza pullout plan as his chances of winning parliamentary approval for the project improved. Brazil Three UN nuclear experts began a day-long inspection at a Brazilian uranium-enrichment plant, but Brazilian authorities insisted on giving the inspectors limited access to the centrifuges to protect trade secrets. Britain Al-Qaeda is present in more than 60 countries around the world and radical Islam is increasing in Western Europe, where Muslims often feel marginalised, a respected military and defence think tank in London said.