Pakistan The United Nations raised its appeal for emergency relief for Pakistani earthquake victims to more than half a billion dollars amid warnings that time is running out for millions of injured or homeless people. UN UN Security Council members discussed a tough-worded, US-French draft resolution threatening sanctions if Syria does not fully cooperate in a UN probe into the murder of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri. Iran Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad openly called for Israel to be "wiped off the map". China China mobilized roadside sterilization stations and inspected markets in stepped-up measures to tackle bird flu after the third outbreak in a week. Mideast The Israeli military shelled and carried out a new air raid over the Gaza Strip in response to the latest in a series of rocket attacks from the territory, an army spokesman said. Germany Three Jordanians and an Algerian linked to Al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, were sentenced to jail terms of five to eight years for planning attacks against Jewish interests in Germany. US New questions over Vice President Dick Cheney's alleged role in a CIA leak scandal bombarded the White House, as it braced for a special prosecutor to decide whether to indict trusted Bush administration's aides. EU British Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to confront hostile EU lawmakers, accused of letting Europe down by failing to address key issues facing the European Union during Britain's presidency of the bloc. China Eight children were killed and 45 injured when students yelling "ghost" sparked a stampede on a darkened elementary school staircase in China's Sichuan province, officials and reports said. Cambodia A former Khmer Rouge commander convicted of the 1994 murders of three Western backpackers but on the run since February was on his way to jail a day after his capture, officials said. India About 90,000 police and paramilitary troops with orders to shoot troublemakers guarded the second phase of a provincial ballot in India's lawless state of Bihar after threats by Maoist rebels to disrupt polling, officials said. Kenya The United States has joined Britain in banning from its soil a senior Kenyan cabinet minister close to President Mwai Kibaki over alleged ties to corruption, in the latest sign of donor impatience with sluggish anti-graft efforts, officials said.