Iraq Equipment and materials that could be used to make nuclear weapons, in some cases entire buildings housing sophisticated technology, are disappearing from Iraq, the UN nuclear watchdog has reported to the UN. Iraq US forces hammered rebel positions in Iraq's Sunni Muslim hotbeds of Fallujah and Ramadi, killing 11 people, as the disarming of Shiite militiamen gathered pace in Baghdad despite US warnings of internal rifts. Iraq The British government formally withdrew one of the key arguments it had used for invading Iraq, as it faced demands in parliament for a "full apology" on how it presented the case for war. China China angrily rejected Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's peace overtures, saying Beijing's stance was unchanged and warning that Chen risked "great catastrophe" by pushing for independence. NKorea China's top envoy on North Korea arrived in South Korea for talks on the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear programme, officials said. US President George W. Bush lashed at his Democratic rival John Kerry's economic plans on the eve of the final televised debate of their knife-edge race for the White House. Mideast A Palestinian security chief related to Yasser Arafat escaped a suspected assassination attempt when a car bomb blew up outside his headquarters in Gaza City, witnesses said. US The Supreme Court announced it will decide whether displaying the Ten Commandments on government property violates the US Constitution's separation of church and state. US-Afghanistan-Iraq WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said that historic presidential elections in Afghanistan at the weekend showed that democracy was possible in Iraq. NATO NATO could order the start of military planning for a possible takeover of operations in Afghanistan from US forces as early as next year, the US ambassador to the alliance said. US The US government has moved for the first time to block unsolicited circulation on the Internet of spyware, a type of software that can inundate Web users with pop-up ads, secretly take control of their computers and spy on their online activities. Canada Canada has decided to temporarily withdraw from service three British-made submarines, after a fire on a fourth vessel killed one sailor, the Defense Ministry said.