EU Iran's top nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani said talks with EU ministers had given hope of an agreement over its controversial nuclear programme "in a reasonably short time". Iraq About 1,000 US and Iraqi troops launched a new raid against insurgents, killing 10 suspects including a Muslim cleric, after reports Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been wounded. Uzbekistan Uzbek President Islam Karimov met with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, vowing to step up the fight against terrorism as he sought backing for his crackdown against anti-government protestors. NKorea South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun announced a summit meeting with US President George W. Bush next month as North Korea kept the world guessing on its next move in the nuclear stalemate. France Torn between resignation and desperation, supporters of the EU constitution in France were engaged in a last-ditch attempt to reverse the lead of the "no" camp ahead of this weekend's referendum. 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 the region's vast energy resources was formally launched in a ceremony attended by presidents and dignitaries. Russia A massive power outage caused chaos in Moscow, stranding around 20,000 people in underground metro tunnels, disrupting traffic above ground and leaving sections of the Russian capital and nearby regions without electricity. Britain Tactics to fight the "war on terror" in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe have failed to prevent horrific attacks on civilians, although they have encouraged rampant abuse of human rights, Amnesty International charged. Egypt Egyptians trickled into polling stations to vote on a key electoral change to allow contested presidential polls for the first time amid opposition calls for a boycott over what they denounce as a sham reform. US Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vowed to hunt down a guerrilla leader allegedly behind the slaying of two US teachers, which has become a stumbling block to full normalization of military ties. Sudan The security and humanitarian situation in Darfur has improved in recent months, a Sudanese official said, on the eve of a visit by UN chief Kofi Annan to the war-wracked western region.