Iraq At least 21 people, including 17 Iraqis working for the US military, were killed as a senior UN official warned that elections could not be held in the current climate of violence. Ukraine Ukraine's pro-West opposition insisted it would not accept reforms to strip much of the presidency's powers ahead of a rerun presidential election that its leader Viktor Yushchenko is hopeful he will win. US The search for Osama bin Laden has hit a roadblock, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told the Washington Post, and US and Pakistani officials have no active leads about his whereabouts. Philippines Panicked residents scrambled to flee three storm-ravaged coastal Philippine towns while rescuers made last-ditch attempts to find survivors of the powerful storm that left more than 1,100 dead and missing. Mideast A major thorn in the side of Israeli-Egyptian relations was removed after Cairo freed an Israeli Druze jailed seven years ago for spying as the Jewish state released six Egyptian students. Kazakhstan Twenty-three coal miners died when a methane gas blast tore through a mine owned by a global Indian steel producer in Central Asia's Kazakhstan, the latest accident to strike the post-Soviet mining industry. Ivory Coast President Thabo Mbeki arrived to a rousing welcome in the central Ivorian rebel stronghold of Bouake, where a rebel spokesman said the South African statesman was regarded as a "guarantee" to the peace process in the divided west African nation. Mideast German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said he detected an historic opportunity to advance towards a Palestinian state as he reinforced international efforts to revive the Middle East peace process. Central Africa People in Central African Republic began voting in a referendum expected to see a big "yes" for a new constitution paving the way for an end to a post-coup interim regime and a phased return to democracy. Taiwan Tens of thousands of Taiwanese attended mass rallies amid tight security as political parties stepped up campaigning ahead of parliamentary polls which will pit pro-independence candidates against those favouring unification with rival China.