The foreign and domestic policies of the Russian government continued to receive a mauling in the Latvian capital, Riga, Saturday with a trio of presidents joining other political figures in criticism

The foreign and domestic policies of the Russian government continued to receive a mauling in the Latvian capital, Riga, Saturday with opposition political figures and international relations experts

Afghan villagers brought the bodies of 17 civilians, most of them children, to a provincial governor's office in southern Afghanistan and blamed NATO airstrikes for the deaths, officials said Friday.

NATO is to deploy up to seven warships off the Somali coast to defend UN ships delivering food aid from attacks by pirates, alliance officials said Thursday.

The decision, taken by NATO defence ministers meeting in Budapest, follows a specific request from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a similar initiative agreed by the European Union last week.

An agreement was signed Friday formalizing the existing political cooperation Between NATO and the United Nations, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.

A suicide bomber killed two Afghan intelligence agents and three civilians in eastern Afghanistan, while more than 15 Taliban militants were killed by Afghan police and a NATO airstrike in the

NATO-led forces "reluctantly" shot dead an Afghan civilian in southern Afghanistan after the man approached an alliance foot patrol on Saturday, the military said.

A leading strategic think tank Thursday urged western nations to rethink the policy of NATO expansion in the light of the conflict between Russia and Georgia this summer.