US George W. Bush and John Kerry wound up their presidential campaigns with a punishing multi-state drive for the decisive votes that would swing an obstinately deadlocked election contest in their favour. US The race for the US presidency lurched to a wild finish with George W. Bush and John Kerry deadlocked nationally and a gaggle of key state contests becoming excruciatingly tighter, polls showed. Arabia Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has vowed to wage a war of "attrition" against the United States until it is "bankrupt," in a message to the American people posted on the website of Al-Jazeera TV. Iraq A US citizen, an Asian and four Iraqis working for a Saudi company were kidnapped at gunpoint from their offices in Baghdad, officials said, adding to a swollen cast of hostages in Iraq. Mideast Israel A teenage Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up and killed three other people and wounded dozens in an open-air food market in the heart of Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv. Afghanistan Militants claiming to hold three UN hostages in Afghanistan said they were being kept in different mountainous locations, and repeated threats to kill them if a rescue attempt was made. Uruguay Tens of thousands of supporters celebrated in the streets after the victory of Tabare Vazquez in becoming Uruguay's first leftist president. Nigeria Nigerian unions clashed in court with the oil giant Shell as the labour movement flexed its muscles ahead of a nationwide general strike, which its leaders have warned will disrupt key oil exports. Mideast Palestinian officials voiced optimism about Yasser Arafat's condition, saying the ailing Palestinian Authority president had shown improvement at the start of a crucial week for his political future. US World oil prices plummeted in wild trade a day before the US presidential election.