US John Kerry and George W. Bush began delivering closing arguments to American voters, sprinting from state to state in the final 48 hours of a deadlocked presidential race, while officials decided not to raise the terrorism alert level after Osama bin Laden's threats against the US. Iraq Deadly fighting erupted in a restive Iraqi province where nine marines were killed a day earlier, as Japan vowed to stand firm with its troops in Iraq despite the beheading of a Japanese tourist. Afghanistan Militants holding three UN workers hostage in Afghanistan offered to consider extending a three-day deadline for killing them. Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon indicated he was ready to open negotiations with a new Palestinian leadership as the void left by Yasser Arafat's departure to Paris was filled by his top lieutenants. Mideast Ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's condition is "curable", officials said as French doctors carried out further tests to determine whether he is fit to stay on as Palestinian Authority president. Ukraine Ukrainians voted in a knife-edge presidential election fraught with East-West rivalries and judged as a "moment of truth" for the future of democracy in the former Soviet republic. Uruguay Uruguay's leftist parties for the first time are heavily favored to end a 179-year conservative lock on the presidency in Sunday's elections in this South American nation plagued by growing poverty. Liberia The United Nations was to wrap up the voluntary phase of its campaign to disarm Liberia's three warring factions in the shadow of riots in the capital that prove weapons still abound in the war-torn west African state. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe toughened up on critics by kicking out South African fact finders, jailing a feisty white lawmaker and announcing plans to appeal against the recent acquittal of opposition chief Morgan Tsvangirai on charges of high treason.