US The prospect of Hurricane Katrina survivors being dragged from their homes loomed larger while lawmakers in Washington locked horns over probing the federal response to the disaster. Mideast-Palestinian The Palestinians' iconic leader Yasser Arafat died of poisoning, AIDS or an infection, an author of a new Israeli book charged, citing a confidential medical report on his death and expert doctors. Egypt Indignant opposition candidates and independent monitors claimed that incumbent Hosni Mubarak's camp had massively violated electoral law during Egypt's first contested presidential poll. Iraq Acting on a tip off, US-led forces took less than three hours to raid an isolated farmhouse and end the 10-month ordeal of an American businessman held hostage in Iraq. Japan Powerful typhoon Nabi left Japan after crisscrossing north to south in a path of destruction that left 32 dead or missing in Japan and South Korea and flooded thousands of homes. Ukraine Two more top Ukrainian officials resigned in a snowballing government corruption scandal that has left President Viktor Yushchenko facing the biggest political crisis since he took power after last year's "orange revolution." India-Britain British Prime Minister Tony Blair talked terrorism, trade and India's quest for a bigger role at the United Nations as he capped his four-day Asian tour with a visit to a palatial resort in the desert state of Rajasthan. US-UN-Iraq UN chief Kofi Annan said he assumed responsibility for management lapses in the oil-for-food program for Iraq, but vowed not to resign as the head of an independent probe into the scandal said member states and the Security Council must share the blame. Germany-Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin was to oversee the signing of an agreement to build a major gas pipeline linking Russia with western Europe and meet with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, just 10 days before the German general election.