Iran The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany met an Iranian negotiator in Geneva in a final bid to stop Iran pressing ahead with plans to resume its uranium conversion activities. Azerbaijan A major new US-backed pipeline to bring oil directly from the Caspian Sea to Western markets and break Russia's longtime grip on vast energy resources from Central Asia to Turkey was formally launched in a ceremony attended by presidents and dignitaries. Iraq Iraq said it was calling on the United Nations to extend the mandate of the US-led foreign forces in the country, at a time of mounting insurgent attacks and growing US military casualties. Egypt Police used clubs to break up an opposition rally as Egyptians headed to polling stations to give their verdict on an electoral reform to allow competitive presidential polls for the first time. Britain The United States has undermined respect for human rights across the world with its efforts to weaken absolute opposition to torture, Amnesty International charged in its annual report. Germany German business confidence slid to its lowest level in nearly two years in May and Italian confidence hit a three-and-a-half year low amid mounting doubts about the eurozone's economic outlook and calls for the European Central Bank to cut interest rates. Austria Austria became the eigtht country to ratify the European Union constitution as members of the upper house of parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the treaty. Iran Campaigning for next month's presidential election officially got underway in Iran after hardliners agreed to let two reformists into a race dominated by hardliners and conservatives. India Indian Kashmiri separatists accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan on next week's intra-Kashmir bus service in a step toward talks that could resolve the long-running conflict, a moderate Kashmiri leader said. Spain A powerful car bomb slightly injured three people in the Spanish capital Madrid, and officials blamed the Basque separatist group ETA, which reportedly gave a telephone warning shortly beforehand. Russia A massive power outage caused chaos in Moscow, stranding around 20,000 people in underground metro tunnels, disrupting traffic above ground and leaving large sections of the Russian capital without electricity. Kenya East and central Africa's largest health care center was in chaos as a strike at Nairobi's Kenyatta National Hospital blamed for the deaths of at least eight patients entered a second day.