India Powerful explosions ripped through crowded markets of New Delhi just moments apart, killing at least 50 people in an apparently coordinated attack on the eve of a major Hindu holiday. US The White House faced a damaging loss of credibility after the criminal indictment and resignation of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's right-hand man, for lying to investigators in a CIA leak probe. Iraq At least 20 people were killed when a car bomb exploded in the middle of a village market near Baquba, north of Baghdad. Iran Iran sought to cool international outrage over its president's comment that Israel should be "wiped off the map", insisting the Islamic republic had no intention of attacking the Jewish state. Mideast Israeli jets carried out further attacks aimed at halting militant activity in the northern Gaza Strip, as the Palestinian authority called on Washington to press for an Israeli ceasefire. South Asia Pakistani and Indian diplomats met to discuss opening the disputed border in quake-hit Kashmir amid UN warnings time is running out for thousands of survivors stranded in the bitter Himalayan cold. Afghanistan A US and a British soldier were gunned down in Afghanistan in a deadly series of attacks that claimed 23 lives, including those of 14 suspected Taliban insurgents. US The US and Japan adopted plans to sharply cut American forces in Okinawa, deploy a powerful missile defense radar in Japan and bind their militaries more closely together in a major realignment of their alliance. India More than 100 people were killed and 20 to 30 more were feared dead when a passenger train derailed and toppled into swirling floodwaters in southern India. Syria Syria said it was setting up its own inquiry into the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in a move apparently aimed at heading off the threat of UN sanctions.