AFGHANISTAN

Afghan election authorities have agreed to push back a parliamentary election to September from May, pleasing diplomats who wanted time to prevent a repeat of the rampant fraud that plagued a presidential vote last year.

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the December 25 failed bombing of a U.S.-bound plane in an audio tape aired on Sunday, and vowed to continue attacks on the United States.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates sought to build bridges with the next generation of Pakistan's military leaders on Friday and end a trust deficit he said has hampered cooperation against Islamist militancy.

Airbus and seven European NATO nations adjourned crucial talks over the troubled A400M military transporter plane until Friday and a source close to the talks said they remained far apart on a possible rescue package.

Yemen will stop issuing tourist visas on arrival to foreigners in an effort to prevent militants entering the country as it steps up its war on al Qaeda, a government official and state media said on Thursday.

Pakistan ruled out any new offensive against militants Thursday, even as U.S. defence chief Robert Gates began meetings aimed at persuading the country to expand its military campaign to take on Afghanistan's Taliban.

Russia's navy will strengthen its Baltic fleet in response to U.S. plans to deploy Patriot missiles in Poland, Russia's state RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed senior navy official.

President Barack Obama's promise to build a new Haiti out of the ruins of the earthquake could prove politically risky if the United States finds itself in a losing battle to rebuild the impoverished nation.

Taliban gunmen launched a brazen assault on the centre of Kabul on Monday, with suicide bombers blowing themselves up at several locations and militants battling security forces from inside a shopping centre engulfed in flames.

The Afghan parliament prolonged months of political uncertainty on Sunday by shutting for its winter recess without waiting for President Hamid Karzai to fill nearly half of his cabinet.

Three al Qaeda militants were captured in Yemen early on Saturday, close to the Saudi Arabian border, a Yemeni security official said.

Six al Qaeda militants were killed in an air strike in northern Yemen on Friday in a stepped-up campaign by the Yemeni government against the Islamist militant group.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed market rumors on Friday that she was to resign, saying the speculation was absurd.

At least five Afghan civilians were wounded when a combined force of Afghan troops and U.S. Marines opened fire on a crowd at the gate to a military base in Helmand, Afghanistan's most volatile province, NATO said on Friday.

A U.S. drone fired two missiles on Thursday at a compound in northwest Pakistan where Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud was believed to have been, but his fate was not known, Pakistani officials said.

The risk that deteriorating government finances could push economies into full-fledged debt crises tops a list of threats facing the world in 2010, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.

U.S. President Barack Obama plans to ask Congress for $33 billion (20.3 billion pounds) in emergency war funding for a major U.S. troop buildup in Afghanistan this year, defence officials said on Wednesday.

Pakistani society is likely to become more Islamist and increasingly anti-American in the coming years, complicating U.S. efforts to win its support against militant groups, a report released on Tuesday said.

A video of the CIA bomber in Afghanistan sitting beside the Pakistani Taliban leader created the impression that the group may have played a key role in the second biggest attack in agency history.

Six members of the NATO-led military force in Afghanistan were killed on Monday in two battles with insurgents and a roadside bomb attack, making it one of the bloodiest days for foreign troops in months.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to the South Pacific this week, working to boost key U.S. alliances while pressing Japan to resolve a damaging dispute over a critical U.S. military base.