BAGHDAD (Reuters) — The killings of two Americans took the monthly US death toll in Iraq on Monday to over 100 for the first time in nearly two years, just a week before elections that could cost President George W. Bush’s Republicans control of Congress.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani helicopter gunships destroyed a religious school allegedly fronting as an Al Qaeda training camp on Monday, killing up to 80 people in the country’s deadliest-ever military operation targeting suspected “terrorists”.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) — Islamists challenging the authority of Somalia’s interim government said they would not proceed with a third round of peace talks on Monday unless Ethiopian troops were withdrawn from the chaotic country.