Australia’s prime minister, facing election, drops in poll
SYDNEY — Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who emerged triumphantly from the political wilderness to regain Australia’s leadership earlier this year, is battling widespread predictions of a defeat in federal elections Saturday that would bring an end to his party’s tumultuous six years in power.
Soldiers’ deaths in Afghanistan mark Australia’s worst toll
KABUL, Afghanistan — Five Australian soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan within hours of one another Wednesday and Thursday, three of them at the hands of a turncoat Afghan soldier, making it the deadliest period in a decade of fighting here for one of the staunchest U.S. allies.
In Separatist Area of Georgia, Residents Cheer Russian Support
The last time South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia — the last three times, actually — hardly anyone noticed. Even Russia, its great friend to the north, declined to take up the cause.