World News: Americans face battles days after Iraq combat deadline

American troops found themselves battling heavily-armed militants attacking Iraqi military headquarters in the centre of Baghdad, days after the US officially ended combat operations and touted Iraq's ability to defend itself.

Yesterday's fighting killed 12 people and wounded dozens.

It was the first exchange of fire involving US troops in Baghdad since the August 31 deadline for formally ending the combat mission, and it showed that American troops remaining in the country were still being drawn into the fighting.

The attack also made plain the kind of lapses in security that have left Iraqis wary of the US drawdown and distrustful of the ability of Iraqi forces now taking up ultimate responsibility.

Yesterday's hour-long assault was the second in as many weeks on the headquarters for the Iraqi army's 11th division, pointing to the failure of Iraqi forces to plug even the most obvious holes in their security.

Two attackers even managed to fight their way inside the compound and were killed only after detonating explosives belts they were wearing.

Nation mourns after landslides

Guatemala declared a day of mourning today after torrential rains caused landslides that killed at least 38 people - some of them rescuers.

In the village of Nahuala, about 200 rescue workers suspended the search for bodies early today after heavy rain fell.

Troops take quake control

Troops took control of a New Zealand city today, two days after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake smashed buildings and homes and destroyed roads and railway lines.

Christchurch mayor Bob Parker extended a state of emergency for another two days as the army moved to secure streets.

Children die in car blast

Fourteen people, including four children, were killed in a suicide car bomb attack on a police station in north-west Pakistan today.

Police official Ghulam Mohammad Khan said rescue workers and police were digging through the rubble of the police station in the town of Lakki Marwat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

He said seven police officers, four children and three civilians were killed. Around 40 were injured.

Party gathers for Kim ruling

North Korea's ruling Communist Party members gathered in Pyongyang today ahead of their largest political conference in 30 years, amid predictions that leader Kim Jong Il would use the meeting to give a key ruling-party position to one of his sons.

One killed in plane crash at air show

Germany: A pilot lost control of his aircraft while taking off at a flight show and crashed into a group of spectators, killing one person and injuring 38.

The crash happened at the Lillinghof airfield, about 20 miles north-east of Nuremberg, where up to 5000 people attended yesterday's show.

Congo: Two capsized in separate incidents in the country's vast rivers, leaving 70 people dead and 200 missing.