Britain Police shot a man reported to be a would-be suicide bomber at a London Underground station, one day after the capital's transport system was targeted in a bid to repeat the carnage caused by the July 7 bombings. Britain Muslim hardliners stage protests in Pakistani cities to condemn President Pervez Musharraf's crackdown on Muslim militants that has seen 300 suspected militants jailed since the July 7 London bombings. NKorea North Korea's delegation to six-party talks on its nuclear weapons drive arrived in Beijing after laying down a raft of preconditions ahead of the negotiations resuming next week. Mideast JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the start of a fresh diplomatic push to ensure the success of next month's pullout from the Gaza Strip. Mideast US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Lebanon, just days after the formation of the first government since Syria ended its three-decade military presence. Iraq At least nine people, five of them policemen, were killed in Baghdad as authorities hunted for two kidnapped Algerian diplomats and the Pentagon acknowledged that only a small number of Iraqi security forces are ready to fight insurgents unaided. China Asia embraced a new financial landscape after China finally abandoned its decade-old peg to the dollar, with regional governments and analysts widely applauding Beijing for the move. Germany The German election campaign began in earnest but conservative challenger Angela Merkel's dream of becoming the country's first woman leader faces formidable hurdles. Kenya The Kenyan parliament has voted to amend a draft of the country's re-written constitution, retaining the near-absolute powers of the president despite violent street protests against the move.