PRISTINA, Serbia – Kosovo’s prime-minister designate Hashim Thaci sealed agreement on Monday on a governing coalition expected to lead the Albanian-majority province to independence from Serbia early this year.

BAIJI, Iraq – Firefighters have succeeded in bringing a blaze at Iraq’s largest oil refinery in Baiji under control, an engineer at the refinery said.

BAIJI, Iraq – Iraq’s largest oil refinery was continuing to operate on Monday despite a fire that destroyed its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) unit, an engineer at the facility told Reuters.

JERUSALEM – Israeli and Palestinian negotiators struggled on Monday to get U.S.-sponsored peace talks, stalled by disputes over Jewish settlements, on course before a visit by President George W. Bush.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Al Qaeda-linked militants in northwest Pakistan have attacked two offices of a government-sponsored peace movement and killed eight people, the military said on Monday.

A U.S. soldier died after a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Diyala Province on Saturday. Following are the latest figures for military deaths in Iraq and Iraqi civilians killed in attacks since the U.S.-led invasion in March, 2003:

Part 1   24 Shawwal 1428 (4 November 2007) I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed shaytan. In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful!

Georgians have begun voting in snap presidential elections seen as a test of the democratic credentials of Mikhail Saakashvili, the country’s pro-western president.

Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili appeared poised for re-election Sunday, but his chief opponent rejected early results and called a street protest, threatening the ex-Soviet republic with turmoil.

Mikhail Saakashvili, the Georgian president, has claimed victory in the country’s presidential elections, but the opposition cried foul and called for mass protests.