Iraq Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced a 60-day state of emergency across most of Iraq that he said was needed to secure the elections, as he repeated warnings to rebels in Fallujah that their time was up. 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 South African President Thabo Mbeki is due to travel to Ivory Coast in the coming days on an African Union mission to defuse the crisis in the west African country, an AU official said. Mideast Palestinian leaders drew 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. France An anti-nuclear protester died in northeastern France after he was run over by a train carrying nuclear waste from France to Germany, regional authorities said. 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.