KABUL: Eleven Taliban suicide bombers struck government buildings in a bold, daylong assault in eastern Afghanistan, sparking running gun battles with U.S. and Afghan forces that killed 20 people and wounded three Americans, officials said.Troops freed 20 hostages taken by insurgents. The battle in Khost, a border city that houses a major American base, came as the U.S. made leadership changes that demonstrate a clear break from Bush-era appointees, with President Barack Obama taking charge of an increasingly bloody eight-year war that the Pentagon once believed had been won.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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