World

Pakistani Officials Say Coalition Forces Strike in South Waziristan - Afghani Army say 32 Taliban Fighters Killed in in South Waziristan, Pakistan.

Authorities in Afghanistan say Afghan and foreign troops have clashed with Taliban fighters in two southern provinces, leaving more than 30 insurgents dead.

Iraqi officials say U.S. forces Wednesday killed six Iraqi security personnel in what the U.S. describes as a case of "mistaken fire".

One of Iran's top military commanders warns any attack against Iran would start a new world war.

Iranian state media reported the comments by Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri Saturday.

General Jazayeri says unrestrained greed of the United States and Zionism are pushing the world to "the edge of a precipice."

He warned, in the case of an attack, "fake and artificial regimes" would be the first to be eliminated.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the Georgian crisis to benefit one of the presidential candidates, a claim the White House calls "patently false."

In an interview with the television network CNN, Mr. Putin said Russian defense officials told him the United States encouraged Georgia to attack the breakaway region of South Ossetia.  The Russian prime minister did not identify which presidential candidate he was referring to, and he offered no proof of his accusation.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned a U.S. airstrike in western Afghanistan that some Afghan officials say killed more than 70 civilians on Thursday. U.S. military disputes the number of civilian casualties and insists the operation was a successful strike against a wanted Taliban commander.

 President Hamid Karzai's office issued a statement Saturday strongly condemning what it called a "unilateral operation of Coalition Forces" in the Shindand district of Herat Province.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has praised his newly-named running mate, fellow-Senator Joseph Biden, as a leader uniquely suited to help put America back on the right track.

Obama formally introduced Biden as his vice presidential pick in their first joint appearance as running mates at a rally in Springfield, in the central state of Illinois, Obama's home state.

Pro-Palestinian activists have sailed into the Gaza Strip defying an Israeli blockade.

After originally saying it would block them, Israel allowed a group of 46 international activists to sail two boats into Palestinian-ruled Gaza. Among the activists was Greta Berlin of Los Angeles, California.

"We come from 17 countries and we have one common goal, and that is to break Israel's siege of 1.5 million Palestinians," said Berlin.

Legislators in the Himalayan nation of Nepal on Friday selected, by a wide margin, a former guerilla leader to be the country's new prime minister.

A charismatic 53-year-old Maoist, who led the armed struggle against Nepal's government, has been selected as the new republic's first prime minister. The chairman of the special legislative assembly, Subash Nemwang, announced the results.

Officials say Afghan security forces have withdrawn from a remote district of central Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to capture the area.

Government officials said police and troops left the Nawa district in Ghazni province Friday, after days of fighting with militants.

Former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo has been inaugurated as Paraguay's new president.

Thousands of Paraguayans attended the inauguration Friday morning. Mr. Lugo was wearing sandals and a simple white shirt as he was sworn in as president in front of Paraguay's Congress. He addressed the crowd in both Spanish and the Guarani indigenous language.

In attendance were several regional presidents, including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Argentina's Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, and Evo Morales of Bolivia.