Iraq US and Iraqi officials said the rebel city of Samarra was largely under control after one of their largest post-war military offensives in Iraq, while US warplanes pounded the rebel town of Fallujah, another hotspot, for a third time in just over 24 hours. Mideast The Israeli army killed two Palestinian activists in the Jabaliya area of the Gaza Strip overnight, Palestinian security and hospital sources said. India India's northeast was in a state of shock after at least 44 people died and 118 were wounded in one of the deadliest waves of violence in the insurgency-infested region in years. Indonesia Indonesia awaited news of two women held hostage in Iraq by kidnappers demanding the release of a jailed militant cleric, after a plea from the president of the world's largest Muslim nation. USA Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, buoyed by a strong showing in his televised debate with George W. Bush, recaptured a small lead in their White House race, a Newsweek poll showed. Pakistan More than 300,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan registered to vote in their homeland's presidential election but few women were among them, partly because some communities would not allow them to take part. Pakistan Thousands of Shiite youths rioted in eastern Pakistan as mourning relatives buried the dead from a suspected suicide bombing which killed at least 30 people at a mosque in Sialkot. USA The Mount St. Helens volcano, which roared to life with a giant plume of steam and ash, remained dangerous and could erupt again at any time, scientists warned. Nigeria The leader of a rebel group fighting for control of Nigeria's oil wealth returned in triumph to his home town after a peace deal with a rival militia and the federal government in Abuja.