KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan security forces knew Taliban militants were planning an offensive near the southern city of Kandahar last week but were distracted by a mass prison break, a senior army officer said on Saturday.

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Serbia’s Socialist Party has broken off coalition talks with the nationalist bloc and is starting negotiations with the pro-European alliance led by the Democratic Party, officials said on Saturday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia wants a negotiated end to territorial disputes in ex-Soviet Georgia, but it will not tolerate deliberate attempts to stir up its peacekeeping troops there, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday.