MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could resign from his post in 2009 to pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified source close to the Kremlin.

Four people have been killed in twin bomb attacks at a checkpoint in a Sunni area of Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

The Iraqi government says it is confident that US President-elect Barack Obama will not jeopardise the country’s improving security by hastening the withdrawal of American troops.