SOFIA (Reuters) – The Bulgarian government decided on Thursday to relocate 155 Bulgarian troops serving in Iraq to Baghdad to guard a U.S. detention facility.

DOHA (Reuters) – Rival Lebanese leaders signed a deal on Wednesday to end 18 months of political conflict that had threatened to push the country to a new civil war. The agreement, reached after six days of Arab-mediated talks, also paved the way for the election of a new president.

(Reuters) – Courted by rival pro-Western and nationalist blocs for a coalition government, Serbia’s Socialists are torn between a new respectability in Europe and the legacy of their founder, autocrat Slobodan Milosevic.

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Courted by pro-Western and nationalist rivals for a coalition government, Serbia’s Socialists are torn between seeking new respectability in Europe and the legacy of their founder, autocrat Slobodan Milosevic.

BAIJI, Iraq (Reuters) – A U.S. military helicopter air strike on Wednesday night killed eight civilians, including two children and an elderly man, north of Baghdad, police officials said on Thursday.

TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia’s main opposition block said on Thursday it would challenge the result of a parliamentary election that President Mikheil Saakashvili said he had won.

TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia’s National Movement of President Mikheil Saakashvili was leading with 60.92 percent of the vote in the country’s parliamentary election, early official results showed on Thursday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The White House denied on Tuesday a report by Israel’s Jerusalem Post that President George W. Bush intends to resort to military forces against Iran before the end of his term in January 2009.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s ambassador to the UN said the Iraqi government and not foreign forces should be in charge of the country’s security affairs.

TEHRAN (FNA)- US Defense Secretary Robert Gates rebuffed calls for diplomatic engagement with Iran Tuesday.