US Americans chose a new president, deciding between George W. Bush and John Kerry after a bitter, marathon debate focused on national security that left the race in an agonizing dead heat. US Long queues formed outside polling booths across the United States amid predictions of a huge turnout for one of the tightest presidential elections in decades. Iraq At least eight people were killed in a car bombing spree across Iraq that targeted symbols of the US-backed government, while hundreds of residents fled the rebel-held city of Fallujah after a night of air raids. Iraq An American, Filipino and Nepalese and at least one Iraqi working for a Saudi company were among a group of people kidnapped at gunpoint from their Baghdad offices. Sudan Humanitarian organisations expressed alarm over worsening security in Sudan's conflict-wracked Darfur region, where the UN refugee agency has been forced to cancel several missions. Mideast Israel beefed up security in Tel Aviv after a suicide bombing in its commercial capital punctured hopes that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's absence could slow the cycle of violence. Afghanistan Islamic militants holding three foreign UN election workers in Afghanistan were locked in negotiations with groups trying to secure their release, as Muslim leaders condemned the kidnapping. Netherlands Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh, 47, who recently made a controversial film about alleged Islamic abuse of women, was shot and stabbed to death while cycling on an Amsterdam street. The United Arab Emirates Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, the president and founding father of the United Arab Emirates, one of the richest countries in the world, died. Mideast The first official medical report on the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has confirmed that he does not have leukaemia, the Palestinian representative in France Leila Shahid said.