AFPEntertainment Live 8, the biggest and most ambitious series of rock concerts ever staged, kicked off in a worldwide music relay aimed at pressuring the industrialised world's politicians to eradicate African poverty. Iraq A suicide bomber killed at least 11 in a crowd of Iraqi security force recruits in Baghdad, as a US commander promised to investigate the alleged shooting by marines of a cousin of Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations. G8 More than 100,000 people began marching through the streets of Edinburgh in a mass demonstration calling for action on African poverty at next week's Group of Eight summit in nearby Gleneagles. Iran Iran's president-elect Mahmood Ahmadinejad played no role in the 1979 seizure of hostages at the US embassy in Tehran, close aides insisted, dismissing allegations of his involvement as a "propaganda war". India At least 123 people have died and about 25 million have been affected by heavy rains and flooding in the western Indian state of Gujarat this week, a state official said. Afghanistan The US military said it was still searching for a small US reconnaissance team in rebel-infested eastern Afghanistan while 31 people, mostly Taliban insurgents, were killed in new battles in southern Afghanistan. US The US Senate has moved to revive a controversial weapons research program aimed at enabling the US military to conduct precision nuclear strikes against hardened underground facilities, including those suspected of storing weapons of mass destruction. Australia Australia and New Zealand agreed on tough new measures to pressure Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to respect human rights, including a sports ban and action against him in the International Criminal Court. US US Republicans and Democrats geared up for a major political battle over a successor to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has announced her retirement. Turkey A bomb explosion killed at least six people and injured eight others on a passenger train in eastern Turkey, the national railway said. Russia An Islamic group claimed responsibility for the bomb blast that killed 10 special forces in Russia's Dagestan repblic, and threatened to launch attacks in Moscow, in a statement on a separatist Chechen website.