An academic delegation of Columbia University professors and deans of faculties plans to visit Tehran to officially apologize to Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

KABUL (Reuters) – A former senior Taliban commander has been appointed government district chief of the fiefdom he once controlled as an insurgent leader, Afghan officials confirmed on Tuesday.

KABUL, Afghanistan – A roadside bomb killed two soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition in eastern Afghanistan, and a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a border police patrol in the south, killing a policeman, officials said.Clashes and another roadside bomb left nine people dead elsewhere.

На Россию надвигается голод, сообщают русские на украинском портале:   «В 1990-м году, когда, по заверениям путинских любимцев,

Как сообщают оккупационные российские источники, в Ульяновской области за 24 часа был уничтожено 3 милиционера. Все они расстреляны. Среди убитых, по крайней мере, одна женщина-милиционер из банды «Засвияшский УВД» и два члены банды «ГИБДД».

Михаил Саакашвили заявил, что в случае победы на президентских выборах в Грузии, которые состоялись 5 января, он намерен попытаться улучшить отношения с Россией.

CAIRO, Egypt – Iran is the one issue where President Bush and Arab leaders have shared concerns. Ahead of the president’s Mideast trip, Arab nations are eager to contain growing Iranian power, though they’re wary of doing so militarily.

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that a confrontation between Iranian boats and U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf over the weekend was “something normal” and was resolved. It suggested the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels.  

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – A senior Saudi official urged French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday to respect Saudi Arabia’s conservative Islamic culture by visiting the country without his girlfriend, former supermodel Carla Bruni. 

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has vowed that there will be no retreat in Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities.