KABUL, Afghanistan – Two deadly bombings in Afghanistan yesterday underscored the difficulties in combating the tactics of the Taliban insurgency, a campaign now increasingly using suicide bombers moving through cities in search of vulnerable targets. more stories like this * 3 civilians killed in Afghan bombings * British soldier killed …

ISLAMABAD – A group of retired senior military officers said on Thursday President Pervez Musharraf should hand over power to the judge he sacked three months ago to ensure national elections are fair.

ISTANBUL – At least 20 people were killed and 117 were injured on Thursday when an explosion ripped through an Istanbul building that housed an illegal fireworks factory, the city governor’s office said.

BELGRADE – Pro-Western Serbian President Boris Tadic faces nationalist challenger Tomislav Nikolic on Sunday in an election that will decide Serbia’s attitude to the West after the imminent loss of breakaway Kosovo province.

SARAJEVO – The European Union’s double standards towards Serbia are causing frustration and distrust of the bloc in Bosnia, and could undercut support for much-needed reforms there, Bosnian media and analysts said on Thursday.

BRUSSELS – The European Union is keeping any doubts over the fairness of Russia’s March 2 election to itself to avoid needlessly antagonizing its large neighbor at a delicate time in their ties, analysts and diplomats say.

MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin’s chosen successor, Dmitry Medvedev, will win 71 percent of the votes in March’s Russian presidential election, state-owned pollster VTsIOM predicted on Thursday.

BEIRUT – Lebanon’s prime minister said on Thursday that an Israeli report on the war against Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006 set the scene for a possible future conflict and failed to address “Israel’s crimes against Lebanon”.

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan – A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in southern Afghanistan on Thursday killing a deputy provincial governor and at least five other people, officials said.

Serbia’s pro-Western President Boris Tadic faces nationalist challenger Tomislav Nikolic on Sunday in an election that is seen as a referendum on the nation’s future.