Germany Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his conservative challenger Angela Merkel locked horns in a power struggle to rule Germany after a cliffhanger general election left Europe's biggest economy in political limbo. NKorea North Korea promised to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for pledges of aid and security, the first major breakthrough in more than two years of deadlock over the high-stakes crisis. Afghanistan Early estimates showed a turnout of just over 50 percent in Afghanistan's first parliamentary polls in more than three decades, below that of last year's presidential vote, the election chief said. Iraq Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shiite pilgrims descended on the holy city of Karbala amid tight security following a spate of bomb attacks against the country's majority population. Iran UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei called on Iran finally to allow access to sensitive sites as his agency met to consider sending Tehran to the UN Security Council because of alleged weapons-related nuclear activities. OPEC OPEC ministers meeting here appeared close to agreement to increase the supply of oil as required by a market still reeling from Hurricane Katrina. Iraq A nephew of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Ayman Sabawi, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for making bombs and financing rebel activities, the government said. Iraq A group of Church of England bishops proposed that the church meet one day with Muslim clerics to apologize for a "long litany of errors" committed by the West in Iraq, including the 2003 invasion. US Top federal and local relief officials were to hold a summit in a bid to iron out their dispute over whether it is safe for thousands of New Orleans residents to return to their hurricane-battered city. Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon admitted he risks being ousted from the helm of his right-wing Likud party as polls showed faction power-brokers favour a leadership contest as early as November. ICoast As the once prosperous Ivory Coast marked the third anniversary of the start of a conflict that cut the world's largest cocao producer in two, no resolution to the political crisis in the west African country was in sight.