Mideast-US Government ministers from some north African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries, along with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and other officials from western nations were to discuss a US-led initiative to promote democracy and economic and social reforms in the Arab and Muslim world. US Former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik abruptly withdrew his name from consideration to head the US Homeland Security Department, saying a nanny he hired may have been an illegal immigrant. Iraq-US A US soldier found guilty of shooting dead an unarmed and wounded Iraqi civilian in Baghdad's Sadr City has been sentenced to three years in prison, the US army said. Taiwan Millions of Taiwanese went to the polls under tight security to choose a new parliament in an election seen as a referendum on future relations with arch-rival China. Philippines Rescuers ended their search for survivors in the ruins of a collapsed building in the storm-ravaged northeastern Philippines after concluding there was no one left alive. Pakistan-Afghanistan Pakistani security forces have arrested an Afghan militant leader who allegedly masterminded the month-long kidnap ordeal of three UN workers, officials said.