Thai chillies cause London terrorism scare
A noxious cloud emitted from a five kilo pot of smouldering chillies in the kitchen of a Soho Thai restaurant sparked fears of a chemical gas attack in central London. Chalemchai Tangjariyapoon, the head chef at the Thai Cottage restaurant, was surprised to find himself centre of a terrorism alert, as British security forces sealed off the area and raided the restaurant.
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Sign up to receive toD's daily security briefings via email by clicking hereAgreement reached with North Korea
Joint six-nation talks have concluded with North Korea agreeing to dismantle all its nuclear facilities by the end of the year. In exchange, Pyongyang will receive 950,000 metric tons of fuel, or its equivalent in economic aid.
Polish ambassador wounded in Iraq
In an apparent assassination attempt, Poland's ambassador to Iraq was when a roadside bomb exploded in Baghdad, killing a bystander and one of the ambassador's bodyguards. Polish spokesmen reaffirmed Warsaw's commitment to supporting American action in Iraq and dashed any suggestions that it would consider withdrawing its 2,500-strong force from the country.
US officials have defended the White House's role in the failure of the Iraqi government to meet certain benchmarks set by Congress by stating that "Iraq is a sovereign country", and that there is only so much the Bush administration can do to prod Baghdad in the right direction.
At the request of Iraqi officials, Iran has connected its power grid to Iraq's. Iran also has plans to build power plants in the Iraqi cities of Karbala and Najaf. Iraq is still suffering from a massive electricity shortfall.
Little hope ahead of Olmert-Abbas meeting
Palestinians expect little from upcoming negotiations between President Mahmoud Abbas and his Israeli counterpart Ehud Olmert. The two leaders have met a number of times in recent months, and this week's talks will be targeted at smoothing over major differences ahead of the Bush-planned "peace conference" in November. However, with Palestinian society and politics in a state of profound division and crisis, many Palestinians don't believe that such peace talks will lead to any concrete change in their lives.
Three people were killed when a car exploded outside a Hamas police building in Gaza city.
Musharraf names military successor
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has named Lieutenant-General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani as his successor as commander-in-chief of the country's military forces, while his government granted former prime minister Benazir Bhutto pardon as part of a deal struck between the political rivals that will allow Musharraf to run for another term as president.
Ten pro-Taliban militants were killed when they attacked a military check post in North Waziristan, in the restive regions bordering Afghanistan.
Two Indian army officers and nine militants were killed in the bloodiest clash between security forces and separatists in months in the disputed state of Kashmir.
