India More than 300 Hindu pilgrims were trampled or burnt to death and 200 injured in a stampede followed by a raging fire at a religious festival in western India. Iraq An American hostage in Iraq was shown pleading for his life in a videotape broadcast, as at least 15 people were killed and Al-Qaeda loyalists attacked polling stations ahead of landmark elections. Germany Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed Germany's shame for the Holocaust, as Europe started commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. US The last Britons held at the US jail for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay arrived home to face immediate arrest by British police under domestic anti-terrorism laws. Mideast Palestinian security forces will be deployed in southern Gaza by Thursday after an agreement between Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs, a Palestinian official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Asia Indonesia was readying a team of senior officials to head to Finland for talks with rebels aimed at bringing peace to tsunami-stricken Aceh province, as the Asian-wide toll of presumed dead from the disaster exceeded 280,000. Ukraine Ukraine's new President Viktor Yushchenko emphasised he intended to see his country join the European Union, despite a public rebuff from Brussels. US The US budget deficit is likely to hit a record 427 billion dollars in fiscal 2005, going deeper into the red as a result of a special funding request for Iraq and the war on terrorism, the White House said. Italy Italian police launched a vast anti-Mafia raid in Sicily, arresting 46 suspects and closing in on the Sicilian underworld's "boss of all bosses," Bernardo Provenzano, who has eluded repeated drag-hunts for more than 40 years.