Iraq Iraqi politicians have still not finalised the country's draft charter, a UN official said, adding the world body would now wait for an amended text to be approved in parliament before printing the document. Ukraine Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed his government amid a deepening corruption scandal that had produced a string of high-level resignations and called into question the integrity of the "orange revolution" leader's administration. 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. US The United States asked NATO to help coordinate and transport European aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina, an official said, noting that the alliance could notably help with heavy sea lift. Egypt Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak looked set for an overwhelming victory after his rivals and independent monitors reported widespread fraud during the country's first ever contested presidential poll. Norway Four days ahead of Norway's general election, the ruling coalition pulled well ahead of the left-wing opposition in an opinion poll after trailing for months, blowing the contest wide open. Germany Russian energy giant Gazprom and German firms EON and BASF signed a deal to build a five-billion-dollar pipeline linking Russia and Germany, at a ceremony attended by President Vladimir Putin and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Mideast Mystery over the cause of Yasser Arafat's death took a new twist with the publication of medical reports which failed to pinpoint a precise cause for the Palestinian leader's demise. France As President Jacques Chirac spent his sixth day in hospital, his loyal prime minister Dominique de Villepin was marking his 100th day in office buoyed by opinion polls that show his popularity making steady progress. India The death toll from an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in northern India rose to at least 580 and one volunteer said a baby was dying every hour in the worst hit district. SriLanka Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas rejected as "totally unacceptable" a call by peace broker Norway to hold talks on salvaging their fragile truce at the island's only international airport. DRCongo The continued presence of armed groups in restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is hampering efforts to protect dwindling numbers of highly endangered great apes in one their few remaining habitats, conservationists warned.