Mideast- Yasser Arafat's funeral was to begin inside a military compound on the outskirts of Cairo, in what will be a brief and solemn ceremony attended by scores of world leaders but closed to the public. Mideast The Palestinian leadership divided up the spoils of Arafat's power, as parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh was sworn in as acting head of the Palestinian Authority and ex-premier Mahmud Abbas became the new PLO supremo. Mideast Palestinians were preparing to bury their iconic leader Yasser Arafat in the spruced up grounds of his battered West Bank headquarters on the soil of his beloved Jerusalem. Iraq Rebels fought for their lives in Fallujah as US troops closed in after losing 18 colleagues in three days of fighting that they said had left more than 500 militants dead. Indonesia Six people were killed and 65 seriously injured after a succession of earthquakes measuring up to 6.0 on the Richter scale rocked an island in eastern Indonesia, police said. US Britain's Blair arrives in Washington for talks with President Bush on the Middle East following the death of Yasser Arafat. ICoast The exodus of foreign nationals from Ivory Coast was gathering pace as South African-led efforts to resolve the crisis in the volatile west African nation were set to continue. India Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a troop reduction in disputed Kashmir this winter, a move welcomed by regional rival Pakistan as a boost to peace efforts. Iran Crucial talks between Iran and the European Union over demands that Tehran suspend some of its nuclear activities failed to reach a conclusion but will continue Friday, a source said. India One of India's top Hindu religious leaders, Jayendra Saraswati, has been charged with the murder of a temple official, police said. Philippines At least 10 people were killed and almost one hundred injured when a train derailed and plunged down a slope in the Philippines, officials and radio reports said. China The death toll from an explosion at a coal mine in central China rose to 33 with six injured as authorities announced plans for a nationwide inspection drive in a bid to improve safety standards.