Iraq A car bomb exploded in the Karrada district of central Baghdad, causing an unknown number of casualties, an AFP correspondent on the scene said. Iraq Almost 50 new Iraqi soldiers were gunned down in an execution in a remote area of eastern Iraq while a US diplomat was killed in a mortar attack on a military base in Baghdad. Afghanistan The focus of the Afghan presidential election turned to an imminent verdict on candidates' complaints, a day after preliminary results showed Hamid Karzai won in a landslide. Mideast Two Palestinian security service members and four other Palestinians were killed in at least four Israeli missile strikes in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources and hospital officials said. Mideast The Israeli cabinet approved a compensation package for settlers who are to be evacuated from their homes as part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan, as ministers jostled to finalise their positions ahead of a crunch debate on the project. Japan More strong aftershocks jolted central Japan after thousands spent a night in shelters following the country's deadliest quake in nearly a decade that left 24 people dead, officials said. Iran Iran rejected European demands that it halt all uranium enrichment activities and described a proposal aimed at ending Tehran's nuclear standoff with the international community as "unbalanced". Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova's pro-independence party looked set to keep its dominance in Kosovo after weekend elections which were marred by an ethnic Serb boycott. India The head of Indian Kashmir's main opposition party, Omar Abdullah, survived an assassination bid for the second time in a month when rebels exploded a bomb a few steps away from him, police said. Tunisia Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was re-elected in presidential elections with 94.48 percent of the vote, according to an AFP tally based on official results. Norway Norway's oil production faces a crisis in mid-November with a threat by oil sector groups to stage a lock-out to end industrial action which has weighed on the industry since July.