Iraq Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi declared a 60-day state of emergency across most of Iraq amid expectations of an imminent assault on the rebel hub of Fallujah. Gunmen shot dead 21 policemen, execution style, in Iraq, one day after a scourge of car bombs and clashes against police and local government targets killed 36 people. Ivory Coast France sent fresh troops to Ivory Coast after French peacekeepers clashed with tens of thousands of demonstrators, leaving at least three dead, and an Ivorian government air raid killed nine French soldiers and an American civilian. The African Union mandated South African President Thabo Mbeki to launch an "urgent mission" to resolve the crisis in Ivory Coast. Mideast Palestinian leaders were drawing up plans at a series of meetings in a bid to prevent an outbreak of violence and ensure a smooth transfer of power in the event of the death of Yasser Arafat. Iran Iranian and European Union officials have reached a "preliminary agreement" on easing concerns over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme following crucial negotiations in Paris, a top Iranian official said. Afghanistan Militants claiming to hold three foreign UN workers met Afghan officials and gave them a list of 26 prisoners whom they want to swap for their hostages, a spokesman for the group said. Thailand Under tight security, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited mainly Muslim southern Thailand amid continuing violence against Buddhists in the region in revenge for the deaths of scores of Muslims in army custody. Macedonia Macedonia's three-year peace process faced one of its biggest hurdles as voters went to the polls in a referendum called by opponents of EU-backed laws designed to empower the ethnic Albanian minority. Britain Investigators combed the tangled wreckage of an express train in southern England, a day after it slammed into a car at a level crossing, killing at least six people and injuring more than 100.