Iraq At least 26 people, including 12 policemen, were killed in double attacks in Baghdad as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted that he had underestimated the Iraq insurgency. Ukraine Ukraine's top court was poised to rule on the disputed presidential election that has plunged this strategic nation into crisis as Russia blasted the West for what it said was "destructive" interference that could destabilize the continent. Philippines Survivors fearful of epidemics were burying hundreds of people killed in storms this week as Typhoon Nanmadol barreled out to sea after cutting a swathe of destruction across the northern Philippines. Mideast Israeli soldiers killed a leading member of the armed wing of the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank, Palestinian security sources said. Germany Three suspected Iraqi extremists were arrested in early-morning raids in Germany "in connection with" a visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, federal prosecutor Kay Nehm said. Italy Defence lawyers for Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi demanded his acquittal as his long-running corruption trial drew to a close, with prosecutors calling for an eight-year jail sentence. SAfrica South African President Thabo Mbeki started an African Union-backed visit to Ivory Coast, where he will present a peace roadmap for the west African country, riven by more than two years of conflict and political crisis. China Sixteen people, including five children, have been confirmed dead while about 30 others are missing and presumed dead after a landslide hit a remote mountain village in southwest China, state media and officials said. Pakistan Pakistan and India agreed to restore a second rail link which was severed nearly 40 years ago in the latest of a series of peace moves. India Russian President Vladimir Putin backed India's bid for a UN Security Council seat while New Delhi championed Moscow's early entry into the World Trade Organisation as the former Cold War friends met to breathe new life into trade and military ties. India Survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy staged a series of angry protests and a march to mark the anniversary of the world's worst industrial accident in 1984 in which thousands were killed. UN The United Nations made an unexpected about-face, saying it would reconsider the case against its top watchdog official, controversially pardoned by Secretary General Kofi Annan after favouritism and corruption allegations.