Iraq Suicide car bombers killed 10 people in attacks on an Iraqi army base and a checkpoint in Baghdad, while gunmen assassinated a judge and his son serving on the tribunal set up to try Saddam Hussein. Iraq French intelligence services were studying two videos of a reporter taken hostage in Iraq -- one of which was broadcast the day before -- amid suspicions that Syria had links to those holding her, media said. IAEA Iran must come clean on nuclear questions, UN atomic agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said, calling on Tehran to carry out "transparency" measures that allow widespread visits by IAEA inspectors beyond what is required under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Vatican A German cardinal met Pope John Paul II in his hospital room in Rome and said he had urged the ailing pontiff to keep his appointment to attend Catholic World Youth Day celebrations in Cologne next August. Mideast Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, fresh from winning ringing support for his reform plans at this week's London conference, pledged to form an independent state "as soon as possible." Iraq An Iraqi-Swede held hostage for more than a month in Iraq -- where he returned to get involved in national politics -- launched a desperate plea for his life in a macabre new video, saying he was certain he was facing execution by his kidnappers. Spain The people who bombed suburban trains in Madrid last year had also planned to attack New York's Grand Central railway station, having in their possession a detailed plan of the building on a computer disk, the El Mundo daily said, quoting sources close to the investigation. HongKong Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa looked set to resign, cutting short a turbulent eight-year tenure overshadowed by economic recession, policy gaffes and unease over China's intereference. NKorea China's top envoy began a three-day visit to South Korea in the latest round of diplomacy aimed at bringing North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks. Britain A British Muslim girl won a long legal battle to force her school to let her wear traditional full-length Islamic dress in class, a case reflecting similar debates elsewhere in Europe. US American adventurer Steve Fossett was flying over southern China, having passed the half-way point in his attempt to make the first solo, non-stop flight around the world without refueling and almost no sleep.