Germany German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was to lead major commemoration ceremony in Berlin to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. Asia The death toll from the Indian Ocean tsunami continued its rise with more than 280,000 people now presumed dead as bodies continued to be recovered one month after the catastrophe. Iraq Gunmen shot dead a senior Baghdad judge and his young son and danced in the street, shouting "This is what will happen to the traitor Shiites", one of the dead man's colleagues told AFP. US Iraqi forces have tortured detainees with electric shocks to their genitals and by beating them with cables and fists, Human Rights Watch said. US The US Defense Department has been assigning spy teams to secret missions by special operations forces and other military units since 2003 as part of a broader effort to revive its human intelligence capabilities, defense officials say. Thailand At least seven people were killed, including four foreign tourists, and 17 people were missing after an overloaded speedboat capsized off Thailand's Koh Samui. US The last Britons held at the US jail for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba were due to return home, their lawyers said, expressing fears for their physical and mental state. US US President George W. Bush, in a telephone call, lent support to anti-abortion activists who held a rally to condemn a Supreme Court ruling 32 years ago that legalized abortion. Mideast Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he would discuss defence cooperation with Moscow as he prepared for talks later in the day with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, news agencies reported. Iran Iran ruled out direct talks with Washington as Israel urged the world to take action against the Islamic republic's nuclear programme, warning it could destablise the Middle East.