Iraq Two suicide car bombs exploded outside Iraq's interior ministry, killing five policemen, as Shiite political parties piled pressure on the Kurds to join them in a governing coalition. Indonesia Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, accused of leading an Al-Qaeda-linked group blamed for attacks across Asia, was jailed for two-and-a-half-years for involvement in the Bali bombings. Vatican The Vatican was due to reveal fresh details of Pope John Paul II's condition, a week after the 84-year-old pontiff was rushed to hospital for a throat operation to relieve his breathing problems. NKorea North Korea said it was no longer bound by a self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile testing because of "hostile" US policy towards the country. Asia Reconstruction of tsunami-ravaged Asian countries will take at least a decade to complete, a global aid agency said ahead of a forum to coordinate the use of 1.7 billion dollars of relief donations. WTO Senior officials from some 30 countries opened talks here aimed at easing a bitter north-south divide over world commerce that threatens to dash efforts to seal a global trade accord by 2006. US Exhaustion began to set in as American adventurer Steve Fossett reached the final stage of his epic bid at the first solo, non-stop non-refueled flight around the world, which he is confident he will complete despite some loss of fuel. SAfrica Most of the suspected mercenaries detained in Zimbabwe over an alleged coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea were due to return to South Africa after their sentences were suddenly reduced without explanation, a foreign ministry official said. DRCongo A commander of the UN force in the Democratic Republic of Congo dismissed reports that his troops had killed civilians in an the operation which left at least 50 militia dead in the troubled northeastern region of Ituri. US A publicist hired to salvage Michael Jackson's reputation said in court Wednesday she feared the family of his child sex accuser had been "hunted down like dogs" by the star's aides.