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I'm John Dryden from the VOA News Center in Washington.

Iraqi police say two suicide car bombers detonated their vehicles near a police station in Baghdad today killing at least 10 people and wounding about 75. On Saturday gunmen shot and killed the Chairman of the Fallujah's City Council / and his predecessor was also murdered. Both men were outspoken criticsm at the group of al-Qaida in Iraq. The Associated Press quoted the police spokesman in central Fallujah as saying 65-year-old Sami Al was killed by attackers in a passing car as he walked near his home.

Authorities in Afghanistan say two bombings in the eastern city of Khost near the Pakistan border have killed at least four people and wounded several others. Officials today say the suicide bomber blew himself up near a market as he was being chased by police. The blast killed three civilians and wounded at least two others.

Palestinian authorities say Israeli troops killed two Palestinian militants in the West Bank town of Nablus. Officials said two were members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a violent / President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Movement. Troops surrounded the house they were hiding in and killed them during a heavy exchange of fire.

Residents of the Somali capital Mogadishu say rival forces are fighting for a fifth day with artillery and mortar shells. Explosions and gunfire shock the city late Saturday and continued this morning. Ethiopian and Somalia government troops have been engaged in heavy fighting with the Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu since Wednesday.

The fate of women who lead Bangladesh's two main political parties remains unsure. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who heads the Awami League has felt to return to Bangladesh to face murder and corruption charges even there were warn has been issued for her arrest. Meanwhile, Khaleda Zia, also a former Prime Minister and headed the rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has been preparing to going to a voluntary exile but there is a suggestion she might try to stay in the country. VOA Steve Herman reports from our South Asia Bureau in New Delhi.

Bangladesh's military bank interim government appealed a step closer to / the country of two women at accuses of a 15-year era of corrupting, violent, political rule in the country. Khaleda Zia, who as head of the Bangladesh National Party, led a coalition government until last October, has been negotiating a deal by the government that could see corruption charges dropped against her two sons in exchange she and her family would go in to exiling Saudi Arabia. Her arch rival Sheikh Hasina, also a former Prime Minister, is in London trying to board a flight departing Sunday for Dhaka. But Abdul G, General Secretary of her Awami League, tells VOA that might approve difficult because the government in Dhaka has instructed airlines not to allow her on any flight headed for Bangladesh. Ms. Hasina has belled return home to face murder and extortion charges for the deaths last October of at least four people who were beaten by Awami League activists during rioting in Dhaka. Steve Herman, VOA News, New Delhi.

French voters are choosing a successor to President Jacques Chirac who is stepping down after 12 years. Twelve candidates are running for the office today were conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal considered the front runners. However, recent polls indicated that about 40% of the voters are still undecided.

South Korea has agreed to resume massive shipments of rice to impoverished North Korea despite Pyongyang has failed to shut down its main nuclear reactor. K. has more.

South Korean officials announced in Pyongyang Sunday that Seoul will begin sending 400,000 tons of rice to the North next month. Seoul originally wanted to link the humanitarian aid to North Korea's complains for the February agreement on initial steps towards ending its nuclear weapons programs, but North Korean officials protest that suggestion, storming at the negotiations Thursday. The final agreement does not link the rice aid and nuclear disarmament issues. Nevertheless, South Korea's chief delegate to the talks in Pyongyang told reporters there that Seoul did not abandon the nuclear issue completely. He said Seoul has informed Pyongyang that the time and speed of the rice shipments will depend on the North implementation of the six-nation deal. Under that deal North Korea was due to close its main nuclear reactor by April 18th and readmit United Nations nuclear inspectors to the country. But so far it has failed to do either. North Korea suffers from persistent food shortages and relies heavily on UN and other foreign aid. K.W. VOA News, Hong Kong.

Environmental groups and governments around the world are marking Earth Day with / protecting nature and raising awareness of global warming. A nonprofit Earth Day network says hundreds to millions people are expected to take part in today's activities and …