US Rescue crews worked frantically to save hundreds of people trapped by floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the US Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and reportedly left dozens dead. Mideast-Israel Former Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu announced he was challenging Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the leadership of the main governing Likud party. Iraq At least 56 people were killed in multiple US air strikes in Iraq against suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts near the Syrian border at dawn, an Iraqi security source said. France A blaze in a rundown building housing African immigrants in Paris -- the second in four days -- killed seven people overnight, officials said, deepening a sense of shock over the plight of France's impoverished non-citizens. Lebanon Lebanon arrested three former pro-Syrian security chiefs over the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, the first major development in the probe six months after the attack that sent shockwaves through the nation. China-EU-US EU trade chief Peter Mandelson stepped up pressure on EU governments to agree urgent measures to break a logjam in Chinese textile imports, warning of shortages and price hikes if no action were taken. China-UN China insists it should be allowed to handle human rights issues in its own way, as the United Nations presses it and other Asia-Pacific nations to ratify relevant international agreements.