Britain-Russia British Prime Minister Tony Blair met Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks here with trade and anti-terrorism measures high on the agenda. US Shock waves from Hurricane Katrina continued to batter New Orleans as some 3,000 city workers -- half the workforce -- faced the loss of their jobs to ease strains on the city's finances. Tajikistan The head of one of Tajikistan's main opposition parties was sentenced to 23 years in prison by the Central Asian state's supreme court on terrorism-related charges. Iraq Iraq was under fire over changes to the electoral law that make it harder for voters to reject the war-wracked country's new but deeply divisive constitution in a referendum next week. Iraq-US US troops have killed 42 insurgents since the start of an operation in western Iraq near the Syrian border aimed at clearing the area of Al-Qaeda fighters, the US military said. US-Bush President George W. Bush scrambled to inject new momentum into his second White House term, hosting his first formal news conference for four months after a torrid summer of troubles at home and abroad. US-NKorea The United States and North Korea have begun direct talks for the first time since the Stalinist state's pledge two weeks ago to abandon its nuclear weapons program, a top US envoy said. Indonesia Bali's Hindus celebrated one of their holiest days and its Muslims began the fasting month of Ramadan as police vowed to "work around the clock" to solve the weekend bombings. Tanzania-Zanzibar The Islamic holy month of Ramadan began here with calls for calm amid a heated and violent election campaign on this overwhelmingly Muslim, semi-autonomous Tanzanian island. Pakistan-Afghanistan Pakistani interrogators were questioning the shadowy chief spokesman of Afghanistan's hardline Islamic Taliban militia a day after his arrest. Japan Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi won a victory with a court throwing out a lawsuit over his visits to a war shrine, less than a week after a landmark judgment saying he violated the constitution. China Grave fears were held for 36 police cadets still missing after a landslide killed 50 of their colleagues, as masses of people were evacuated from the worst floods in a decade swamping north China.