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.

KIRKUK, Iraq – Two car bombs exploded outside two churches in the volatile northern city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, police said, the latest in a wave of attacks on Christian targets in Iraq this week.