Police station attacked in Iraq; 3 dead
BAGHDAD – Sixty suspected al-Qaida in Iraq fighters hit national police facilities in a coordinated attack in Samarra, sparking two hours of fighting that saw three people killed and more than a dozen insurgents captured, police said Friday.

Iranians attack Kurdish rebels in Iraq
BAGHDAD — Iranian soldiers crossed into Iraq on Thursday and attacked several small villages in the northeastern Kurdish region, local officials said. U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said he couldn’t confirm the attacks, but five Kurdish officials said that troops had infiltrated Iraqi territory and fired on villages.
I’m going to withhold my judgment on this until I hear it confirmed by a reliable source.

Two soldiers killed, 11 injured in Taliban raid on NATO base
ASADABAD, Afghanistan: Taliban militants wearing Afghan army uniforms attacked a NATO base Wednesday in the northeast, killing two Afghan soldiers and injuring 11 NATO troops, the international force said.

Sharif vows to fight Musharraf in vote
LONDON – Immediately after Pakistan’s highest court ruled he could return, former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he would go home soon to lead his party’s campaign to oust President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who exiled Sharif eight years ago.

NATO, Georgia to share radars in 2007: Tbilisi
TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia’s radars will probably be integrated into NATO’s radar system by the end of this year, earlier than planned because of worries about Russian military flights, the Georgian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Political clock ticks against India-US nuclear deal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A historic nuclear energy deal between India and the United States is hanging in the balance due to political opposition in New Delhi, but could still be saved if it reaches the U.S. Congress early next year, analysts said.

Bangladesh eases curfew after violence subsides
DHAKA (Reuters) – Traffic poured onto the streets of Bangladesh’s main cities on Friday as the army-backed interim government relaxed a curfew imposed two days ago to quell street violence, allowing people to venture out to buy essentials.

China threatens to retaliate over recalls
BEIJING — Stung by a spate of safety recalls of its products, China hinted Thursday that it might take retaliatory action against U.S. products exported to China.

China: Another mine flood, 8 missing
BEIJING – Water rushed into a coal mine in southwestern China and trapped eight workers, a newspaper reported Friday, one week after similar flooding left 181 miners missing and presumed dead.

Group finds China toy factory conditions “brutal”
HONG KONG (Reuters) – A U.S.-based workers’ rights group said it found “brutal conditions” and labor violations at eight Chinese plants that make toys for big multinationals, and called on the companies to take steps for better standards. China Labor Watch said in a report … “Wages are low, benefits are non-existent, work environments are dangerous and living conditions are humiliating,” it said.

Car bomb explodes in Basque city
MADRID, Spain – A car bomb exploded Friday outside a police station in the Basque city of Durango, slightly injuring two officers in what appeared to be the first attack by the separatist group ETA since it called off a cease-fire in June, officials said.

Sudan expels Western diplomats
KHARTOUM (AFP) – Sudan has expelled European and Canadian diplomats for “interfering in its affairs,” a move that could further strain relations with the West over the conflict in Darfur.