BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The number of civilians killed in Iraq last month fell to less than a quarter of the toll in July 2007, government figures released on Friday showed, underscoring a dramatic improvement in security.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s government called for calm on Friday to dampen a bitter row over the status of Kirkuk, a day after Kurdish councilors called for the city to become part of the largely autonomous region of Kurdistan.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Calling graft a threat to Russia’s security, President Dmitry Medvedev released on Friday his national plan to fight red tape and corruption. The plan, published on the official Web site www.kremlin.ru, calls for sweeping legal and social reform that, fail or flourish, analysts say could define Medvedev’s …