Afghanistan Ballot boxes from polling stations around Afghanistan were to be moved to counting centres a day after an historic presidential election which saw a massive turnout tainted by allegations of fraud and an opposition boycott. The United States and key allies in its war on terror united in praise for Afghanistan's elections, three years after leading the invasion which paved the way for the historic polls. Iraq US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived on an unannounced visit in western Iraq to meet with marines combating insurgents in Al Anbar, one of the country's most restive provinces. Iraq A key step toward peace in Iraq was taken when the militia of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr agreed to lay down their arms in the capital, as US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said more troops may be needed to ensure safe elections in January. Australia Prime Minister John Howard looked set to hold the most powerful mandate of any Australian leader in a generation after weekend elections handed him effective control of both houses of parliament and free rein to impose his conservative agenda. US US President George W. Bush and Democratic rival John Kerry hit the campaign trail with renewed vigor, courting voters in battleground states after their hard-fought second debate left the race for the White House in a dead heat. Taiwan Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian called for arms control talks with China to defuse the dangerous build-up of military hardware on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Mideast Seven Palestinians, including a Hamas militant, were killed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, taking the death toll from a huge Israeli offensive in the area to more than 100. Iraq Two minutes' silence was held in the home city of Kenneth Bigley as the British engineer's family struggled to come to terms with his brutal murder by Islamic extremists in Iraq. France Jacques Derrida, one of France's best-known philosophers and the founder of the deconstructionist school, has died of cancer at the age of 74.