BAGHDAD – Iraq said yesterday it would launch lawsuits in US and Iraqi courts against a US security firm accused in the 2007 killing of civilians in Baghdad, rejecting a US judge’s decision to throw out charges.

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KABUL – Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered parliament to suspend a winter recess due to start this week, so that it can vet and vote on his new slate of candidates, which could be presented as early as Sunday.

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SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave no indication that peace talks with Israel might resume soon, despite some optimistic comments from officials on both sides.

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BRUSSELS – Iran postponed a visit by members of the European Parliament yesterday, but the EU delegation said it had cancelled the visit because Iran had blocked meetings with opposition figures.

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LONDON – Britain’s political parties launched what could be a long and bitter election campaign yesterday, promising voters years of belt-tightening rather than the usual election sweeteners.

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ABUJA – A Nigerian opposition party yesterday demanded visual proof that an ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua was fit enough to govern after weeks in hospital overseas.

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MIAMI – A US judge upheld the prison sentence of a key informant in the tax fraud case against Swiss bank UBS AG and ordered him to start serving his 40-month term as scheduled this Friday.

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MOSCOW/MINSK – Russia said it had resumed flows of crude to refineries in Belarus but it did not clinch a deal to resolve a tense price dispute with Minsk that raised fears oil supplies to European Union countries might be blocked.

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NAIROBI – Somali pirates captured a Yemeni vessel on Christmas Day, a day after they seized another ship from the Arab country, a regional maritime official said yesterday.