Afghanistan As polls closed in Afghanistan's first general election in more than 30 years, officials said most of the nearly 12.5 million eligible voters defied Taliban attacks to cast their ballots. Germany Germans voted in close-fought early elections expected to make Angela Merkel the country's first woman chancellor and the first from the former East Germany. Iran Iran signalled it will never bow to Western demands to dismantle parts of its nuclear programme and is ready to face the consequences, as the UN atomic watchdog prepared to meet to consider how to tackle the stand-off. US The head of the federal relief operations after Hurricane Katrina called on the mayor of New Orleans to "slow down" the return of the city's population, due to start on Monday, as the area was still unsafe. US The BBC defended itself against accusations of anti-US bias after British Prime Minister Tony Blair reportedly complained about the public broadcaster's coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Iraq Iraq's parliament finally signed off on amendments to a draft constitution, paving the way for the charter to be put to a national referendum on October 15. Indonesia Two more Indonesian children are suspected of being infected with bird flu as authorities closed the Jakarta zoo after 19 birds were found with the deadly virus. Mideast Israel said it was "inconceivable" Hamas be allowed to take part in January's Palestinian elections and acknowledged the radical Islamist movement could emerge victorious. Russia Russian police have re-arrested a former intelligence officer who alleges the country's secret services were behind a spate of apartment bombings used as a pretext for sending federal forces back to Chechnya in 1999.