Germany German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder lost a parliamentary confidence vote he engineered, raising the prospect of early elections that could usher in the country's first female leader. EU Britain began its six-month presidency of the European Union with Prime Minister Tony Blair pledging to hold an informal summit later this year to debate the future of the crisis-torn bloc. Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi demanded that the United States show full respect for Italian sovereignty, after summoning the US ambassador to explain an alleged CIA abduction of an Islamic cleric in Milan. Mideast Israel lifted its blockade of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip after security forces stormed an abandoned hotel comandeered by ultra-nationalists opposed to the pullout from the territory. Iraq A top aide to Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader was among at least 20 people killed in attacks across the country, including a bombing near an office of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari's party, the defense ministry said. Dagestan A powerful bomb killed 10 special forces soldiers and wounded at least 14 others outside a public bathhouse in Makhachkala, capital of southern Russia's volatile Dagestan republic, a senior doctor in the city said. Turkey Turkish police shot dead a wanted leftist radical after he tried to blow himself up in a botched suicide bombing at the justice ministry in a crowded Ankara neighbourhood, officials said. Afghanistan US forces searched for a small reconnaissance team which has been missing since a helicopter sent to extract them was shot down in Afghanistan, as the Taliban claimed they had captured a US soldier. US The White House said that it would not be surprised if Iran's president-elect Mahmood Ahmadinejad had taken part in the 1979 US hostage crisis in Tehran but did not give any proof. London Final rehearsals were under way around the planet on the eve of the biggest music show on earth, which aims to rally support behind a campaign pressuring G8 leaders to eradicate poverty in Africa. US US and North Korean officials had discussions Thursday on efforts to resolve the dispute over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, the State Department said. Zimbabwe Visiting UN special envoy Anna Tibaijuka admitted that conditions at a holding camp set up by Zimbabwe for people evicted in a clean-up blitz needed improvement after meeting residents.