ROME (Reuters) – Italy on Thursday returned 13 ancient Iraqi artifacts that had been smuggled out of the country after the U.S.-led invasion.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Six members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood patrol and a civilian were killed in an attack by a female suicide bomber in northeast Iraq on Thursday, police said.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan soldiers killed “dozens” of militants, including foreigners, in a clash on a highway in southern Zabul province on Thursday, the defence ministry said.

KABUL (Reuters) – The once media-shy Taliban have gone hi-tech with DVDs, mobile phone messages, ring-tones, emails and a website to publicize their exploits and lambast their Afghan and Western enemies, a think-tank said on Thursday.

KABUL (Reuters) – NATO will not enter Pakistan to hunt Taliban insurgents, but reserves the right to hit the militants there should they attack alliance troops across the border in Afghanistan, the alliance’s chief said on Thursday.

KABUL (Reuters) – The Afghan government makes all the right noises about fighting corruption, but it has to follow words with deeds, the World Bank president said on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will withdraw in early August around 400 soldiers sent to repair railways in Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Thursday it opposed any artificial deadlines being issued to Iran to force it to respond to incentives from world powers on suspending its nuclear activities.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The United States is making a diplomatic drive to bring Russia, Georgia and leaders of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia together for peace talks in Berlin next week, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon on Wednesday sought to play down the seriousness of growing violence in Afghanistan but declined to say the United States and NATO were winning their fight against Taliban insurgents.