Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba 's ruling party, dogged by corruption scandals and plunging support, faces its toughest challenge in more than a decade in Sunday's parliamentary election (Oct. 27). This could set up a very short-lived time in office for Ishiba, who only took power earlier this month. But even if he may have to take responsibility and step down as head of the party and prime minister, it won't cause his Liberal Democratic Party to fall from power. That's because the party, which has had a stranglehold on power since 1955, easily dominates a fractured, weak opposition, which has only ruled twice, and briefly, during that time.

Analysts expect the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan to significantly gain ground, but not enough to change the government. The LDP has built its juggernaut of support through a network of bureaucrats, businesses and regional leaders. While opposition parties have made inroads in cities, the LDP controls the countryside, funnelling huge government subsidies to rural areas.

Armed assailants launched a deadly terror attack on Turkey's state-run aerospace company near the capital Ankara on Wednesday, government officials said. At least five people were killed and 22 injured in the "terrorist attack" on the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) headquarters in the outskirts of Ankara, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. Two attackers - a man and a woman - were killed, he added. Both assailants were members of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK, according to Turkey's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on Thursday, after the government confirmed their identities.

Among the dead are four TUSAS employees and the taxi driver who drove the assailants to the facility, according to Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılma. The PKK, a Kurdish separatist group which is classified as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, has not taken responsibility for the attack. The attack occurred a day after the leader of Turkey's Nationalist Movement Party brought up Kurdish relations in Parliament.

Gangs in Haiti's capital opened fire and hit a UN helicopter, forcing it to land in Port-au-Prince in the latest attack on Thursday (Oct. 24) as violence surges once again. No one was injured as several rounds of gunfire hit the helicopter that was carrying three crew members and 15 passengers, according to a UN source who was not authorised to confirm the incident. The helicopter, which had departed from Port-au-Prince before it was attacked, landed safely, the source said.

The attack comes five months after Haiti's main international airport reopened following coordinated gang attacks that forced it to close for nearly three months. The violence has spilled to nearby areas including Arcahaie, where some 50 suspected gang members died this week after attacking the coastal town located just northwest of the capital. Among the dead are at least a dozen gunmen who drowned after their boat capsized, a government official said Thursday.

Fresh onions are the probable source of an E coli outbreak at McDonald's restaurants that has sickened 49 people and killed one, the US Department of Agriculture said, alarming fast food chains using the ingredient. Taylor Farms, a supplier for McDonald's, the biggest US burger chain, recalled several batches of yellow onions produced in a Colorado facility, according to a memo on Wednesday by US Foods, one of the largest suppliers of food service operations in the country.

The US Foods recall alert does not mention whether the company supplies onions to McDonald's. Fresh onions are an ingredient in the McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburger, and McDonald's has pulled the item from its menu in Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming, and in parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma.