Iraq The US military opened a probe into how a suicide bomber managed to penetrate a fortified base in northern Iraq and kill 22 people in the deadliest attack on its forces in the country. Iraq Dozens of people gathered outside the Iraq city of Fallujah eager to return to their homes and nervous about what they would find in the ghost town of rubble after six weeks of fighting between the US military and insurgents. Iraq The operation to secure the release of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq was an exclusively French affair, French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie insisted. Russia The main asset of Russia's stricken Yukos oil giant fell into state hands in the first renationalisation of the post-Soviet era but the dispossessed owners immediately vowed a legal challenge. Mideast Palestinians in 26 municipalities across the West Bank began voting in the first council elections in 28 years which will act as an electoral barometer for next month's presidential ballot. Pakistan An investigation was under way after two Pakistani planes together carrying hundreds of passengers including a government minister narrowly avoided a midair collision, officials said. Kenya Kenya has named a new head of its wildlife services, amid a row over this month's decision by parliament to allow sport hunting and killing of wildlife straying onto private land, officials said. NKorea All 44 North Koreans who forced their way into Canada's embassy in Beijing two months ago have left for an undisclosed third country, officials said after weeks of diplomacy. China China's second manned space flight will blast off next September with two astronauts circling the Earth for five days to reinforce the country's status as a major space power, state media said.