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Wednesday marks the 25th anniversary of the Mount St. Helens explosion. An observatory that overlooks the crater has just reopened and volcano enthusiasts are flocking to visit.

The head of New Orleans' police department, Eddie Compass, has resigned. This weekend, he announced that 249 officers, or about 15 percent of the force, are absent without leave after the hurricanes. A special tribunal will determine who has deserted and who has legitimate absences from work.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Islamabad, Pakistan, to assess the country's earthquake-relief needs. Already, the United States has sent planes and helicopters to help in rescue-and-relief operations. She also visited Kabul, meeting with Afghan leaders.

A Palestinian suicide bomber strikes at a fast-food restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israel. The attack kills the bomber and nine others, wounding dozens. Israel is marking the Passover holiday. It is the first suicide attack since Hamas took control of the Palestinian government.

Dozens of senior officials have left the CIA in the past 18 months. Some simply retired, but many were unhappy with CIA Director Porter Goss. Supporters say Goss is making needed changes at the agency. Critics question the impact on morale.

G-8 leaders meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, release a statement expressing "deepening concern" about rising civilian casualties on all sides of the violence in the Middle East. It also blamed the immediate crisis on "efforts by extremists forces to destabilize the region."

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick is in Nigeria, hoping to mediate a peace deal between rebels and government leaders in Sudan's Darfor region. The African Union has extended a deadline for talks to midnight Tuesday. The three-year conflict has led to nearly 200,000 deaths and 2 million refugees.

The U.S., EU, Russia and the U.N. have agreed on a deal to create a trust fund for the Palestinian Authority. The authority is in the midst of a deepening financial crisis created when Hamas was voted into power, prompting Western donors to end their support for the government. The four powers now hope to get aid directly to the Palestinian people.

Envoys from the United States, Russia, the U.N. and the European Union consider halting aid to the Palestinian Authority unless Hamas renounces violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist. The militant Islamist group is likely to lead the next government after its success in last week's polls.

President Ibrahim Rugova is mourned in Kosovo by ethnic Albanians he led and by European and U.S. officials who hailed him as a voice of moderation in the turbulent Balkans. Talks on the future of Kosovo have been delayed until February.