An Australian commando was killed in a clash with Taliban militia in Afghanistan on Friday, a day before Australians go to the polls in national elections in which the war in Iraq and Afghanistan will feature.

Al Qaeda fighters killed at least eight police in southern Baghdad on Thursday, raking them with machinegun fire from a stolen Iraqi army vehicle, police said.

Lebanon’s parliament is unlikely to elect a new head of state on Friday in the last few hours of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud’s term, because rival leaders have failed to clinch a deal despite French-led mediation.