Iraq Iraq's most wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been wounded, according to the website of his Al-Qaeda front group, as insurgent attacks left eight US soldiers and dozens of Iraqis dead over a 48-hour period. Iran Iranian hardliners agreed to allow two reformists to stand in next month's presidential election amid fears their disqualification could provoke a mass public boycott of the polls. US-Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to release 400 Palestinian prisoners to "help" Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, who will hold talks at the White House on Thursday. EU-Iran The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany meet here with Iran's top negotiator Hassan Rowhani for crucial talks aimed at avoiding an escalation of Tehran's standoff with the West on its nuclear program after Iran warned there was a high risk of deadlock. Egypt Egyptians were headed to the polls to give their verdict on a key constitutional amendment that the government says honours reform pledges given to the United States but which the opposition derides as a sham. EU-France With polls continuing to show that the EU constitution will be rejected by French voters this weekend, supporters of the 'yes' campaign began wheeling out the big guns in the hope of winning over undecided voters. US The US House of Representatives voted to approve federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research despite President George W. Bush saying he will veto such a bill. Germany German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he would turn an expected general election into a personality contest, as polls showed his Social Democrats lagging far behind the opposition. China-Japan China expressed "extreme" dissatisfaction over Japanese leaders' visits to a war shrine, blaming Tokyo for Vice Premier Wu Yi's abrupt cancellation of a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. UN-Liberia Al-Qaeda's terror network is active in West Africa and seeks to destabilize the region through links with Liberian former president Charles Taylor, members of a UN appointed tribunal said. US Michael Jackson's lawyers were set to rest their case without calling on the "King of Pop" to speak out in his own defense at his child-sex trial.