Romania Romanians went to the polls to elect a president in a second-round run-off vote pitting Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, the favourite, against Bucharest Mayor Traian Basescu. Ukraine Ukraine's presidential election lit up with a doctor's report that opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko was likely poisoned, in a stunning disclosure two weeks before a rerun vote that he is increasingly likely to win. Mideast Shimon Peres was poised to lead his Labour party into Ariel Sharon's new coalition government in a move set to save the Israeli prime minister's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip by end-2005. Iraq A US marine was killed in action in Iraq's Al-Anbar province, which includes the rebel hotspots of Fallujah and Ramadi, the military said in a statement. Taiwan An opposition alliance which favours friendly ties with China defeated a pro-independence grouping in Taiwan's parliamentary election and vowed to push for better relations with the mainland. Iran Iran's top nuclear negotiator warned that the Islamic republic would abandon key talks with the European Union on its nuclear programme if it was clear no progress was being made. Myanmar At least two Myanmar dissidents were among thousands of prisoners being freed after the military government announced it had begun releasing more than 5,000 detainees in a third mass release in less than a month. Malaysia More than 4,500 people have been evacuated and at least four people drowned in the worst floods in 40 years on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia. US US President George W. Bush's administration has listened in on phone calls between Mohamed ElBaradei and Iranian diplomats, seeking ammunition to oust ElBaradei as head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, the Washington Post said. US President George W. Bush began searching for a new US homeland security chief after former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik withdrew his name from consideration, admitting a nanny he employed may have been an illegal immigrant. Portugal Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes said that he and his centre-right cabinet had submitted their resignations, the day after the nation's socialist president announced he would dissolve parliament and call an early vote.