AFGHANISTAN

Twelve Taliban fighters were killed in artillery fire along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, officials said.

Coalition and Afghan troops in Paktika province were attacked by insurgents who used Pakistan's territory to fire rockets and mortar rounds Saturday, a statement from the U.S.-led coalition said.

Pakistani authorities gave permission for the troops to return fire, it said.

In Helmand province, coalition and Afghan troops clashed with militants near the Taliban-held town of Musa Qala late Saturday, leaving at least a dozen people dead.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said 12 militants were killed, but witnesses said at least 18 civilians, including women and children, died.

On Sunday, a NATO soldier was shot to death while on patrol in eastern Afghanistan, the organization said in a statement. It did not give his nationality.

CUBA Column appears in Castro's name

Fidel Castro signed a lengthy essay in a communist newspaper saluting late Cuban political figure Eduardo Chibas. But the Cuban leader gave no hint about his own health.

Castro, 81, has not been seen in public in more than a year and has not appeared in official photographs or video footage since June 5.

Cuban exiles in Miami and elsewhere have speculated that Castro may be dead.

Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told reporters in Brazil last week: "Fidel is doing very well and is disciplined in his recovery process."

Castro announced on July 31, 2006, that he had undergone emergency intestinal surgery and was temporarily ceding power to his younger brother Raul.

LEBANON 3 soldiers killed in fighting at camp

Three Lebanese soldiers were killed in fighting with Islamic extremists at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, a day after the families of the militants were evacuated, the military said.

It said the soldiers were killed Saturday at the Nahr el Bared camp. It did not give details.

The deaths raised to 145 the number of soldiers who have died in fighting between the army and Fatah al Islam militants that erupted three months ago. About 70 fighters are believed to remain in the camp.

BRAZIL Lula says he won't try for a third term

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would not seek a third consecutive term but would try to influence the choice of his successor, who might come from outside his ruling party.

"When a political leader begins to think he is indispensable, and cannot be substituted, a little dictatorship is born," Lula said in an interview in O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

The former factory worker's term ends in December 2010.

Brazil's constitution bars a president from a third consecutive term, but Lula could have tried to muster support to change the law if he wanted.

His predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, did so to get an amendment allowing a second term.

From Times Wire Reports