A round-up of other world stories in brief...
US forces now come under Iraqi mandate
BAGHDAD - US forces have come under an Iraqi mandate for the first time since the 2003 invasion of Iraq and have handed control of the Green Zone in central Baghdad to Iraqi troops in a symbol of the dramatic change.
The US force in Iraq, now more than 140,000 strong, had operated since 2003 under a UN Security Council resolution.
However at midnight on New Year's Eve, the UN mandate expired and the troops were placed under a new mandate granted by the Iraqi government in a bilateral deal reached with Washington. - (Reuters)
Taliban kills 20 of chief's bodyguards
KANDAHAR - Taliban insurgents ambushed the convoy of a district chief in southern Afghanistan and killed 20 of his bodyguards, according to an official.
Mullah Salaam, the district chief of Musa Qala in Helmand province, who was once a member of the ousted Taliban, was in another part of Helmand when the attack took place on Wednesday and was unharmed, the provincial spokesman said. - (Reuters)
Bhutanese forest rangers killed
THIMPHU - Four forest rangers have been killed by a landmine planted by communist guerrillas at a Bhutanese village, according to police.
"Six Bhutanese forest rangers were returning to their camp after shopping when the tractor they were travelling in hit a landmine planted on the road," a police statement said yesterday.
The attackers fired at the rangers after the explosion on Tuesday at Singye village near a wildlife sanctuary, 250 km south of the capital Thimphu. - (Reuters)
Constituency vote in Ghana deferred
TAIN - Ghana's ruling party says it has sought for security reasons to delay voting scheduled for today in a rural constituency that will decide a knife-edge presidential election.
"We have determined that conditions will not be conducive for a free and fair election to be held tomorrow and, if there is one, we'll not be part of it," New Patriotic Party spokesman Arthur Kennedy told private radio station Joy FM. - (Reuters)
Three killed by bombs in India
GUWAHATI - At least three people have been killed when suspected separatist militants set off three bombs in the main city of India's troubled northeastern Assam state, police have said.
The blasts yesterday wounded 27 people, with the death toll likely to rise, police said. - (Reuters)
Pinter widow 'overwhelmed'
LONDON - The widow of Nobel prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter says she has been "overwhelmed" by the public response to his death.
Lady Antonia Fraser said she "deeply appreciated" the tributes to her late husband who died, aged 78, on Christmas Eve after a long battle against cancer.
Family and close friends of the writer gathered on Wednesday at a northwest London cemetery for his private burial. - (PA)
Call for better US, China co-operation
BEIJING - Chinese president Hu Jintao has called for strengthened co-operation with the United States as the two countries yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
Thousands of peace doves were released in Beijing's Tiananmen Square at dawn yesterday, as the Chinese flag was raised for the first morning of 2009.
The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Kuomintang-controlled Taiwan to Communist China on January 1st, 1979. - (Reuters)