US Tens of thousands of survivors were evacuating the darkened, flooded streets of New Orleans, abandoning the hurricane-wrecked city to looters, thugs, carjackers, and a looming public health disaster. Mideast Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom met his Pakistani counterpart in Turkey where they were expected to finalise a deal to establish diplomatic ties, diplomatic sources said. Iraq Thousands of grieving Iraqis were searching for their loved ones as mass funerals were due to be held for the nearly 1,000 Shiite pilgrims killed in a deadly stampede on a Baghdad bridge. Russia Bells tolled in Beslan one year to the minute after Chechen gunmen seized a Russian primary school in a hostage crisis that left more than 300 people dead and which still reverberates around the country. Afghanistan A British engineer has been kidnapped and at least three policemen killed by Taliban rebels in Afghanistan, raising security fears before key elections this month. China Three days of talks between China and the United States on a simmering textile row broke up without a comprehensive agreement, the head of the US delegation said. Lebanon The head of the UN probe into the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri said he was willing to go to Syria to secure its cooperation in the investigation which he said was not yet closed. China China said it was committed to peaceful development and would never use nuclear weapons first as it outlined its arms control policy ahead of President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States. Taiwan Two people were killed and 39 injured, at least three seriously, as Typhoon Talim pounded Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rains, forcing offices, schools and financial markets to close. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe acknowledged that the repayment of more than a third of its 300-million-dollar (245-million-euro) debt to the International Monetary Fund did not automatically avert its threatened expulsion from the global lender. Britain A race to lead Britain's main opposition Conservative Party gathered pace as two hopefuls prepared to outline their visions for the future and attack Prime Minister Tony Blair's record in office. Philippines Philippine President Gloria Arroyo called for the country to draw a line under three months of political turmoil after legislators threw out attempts to impeach her for vote-rigging.