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[1] Iraqis are looking forward to Sunday's elections, but some fear possible chaos¹. The vote is Iraq's second nationwide election and comes at a vastly different time than the first in 2005. US troops have all but vanished from streets, but attacks continue and militants² have threatened to target voters. 

[2] UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has toured the heavily-damaged Chilean city of Concepcion. Firefighters showed him a 15-storey apartment building that had split and collapsed³, killing⁴ nine people. Ban says the international community will provide field hospitals, temporary bridges and other aid.

[3] President Barack Obama is turning up the heat for health care overhaul⁵ again, using his weekly radio and Internet address to try to convince a skeptical⁶ public of the need for his plan. He balked⁷ Republicans' calls to start from scratch. 

[4] Hundreds of sled dogs and thousands of fans lined up along Anchorage's 4th Avenue for the ceremonial start to the 1,100-mile Iditarod Dog Race. The actual competition starts on Sunday.