GENEVA – About 151,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the three years following the U.S.-led invasion of their country, according to World Health Organization (WHO) research published on Wednesday.

BAGHDAD – Six U.S. soldiers were killed on Wednesday when a house rigged with explosives blew up north of Baghdad during a new U.S.-Iraqi offensive targeting al Qaeda guerrillas in Iraq, the U.S. military said.

PRISTINA, Serbia – Kosovo will declare independence from Serbia within weeks, the breakaway province’s new Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Wednesday after parliament endorsed his coalition government.