The Afghan parliament demanded Monday that a U.S. soldier who went on a shooting spree and killed 16 villagers in their homes should be put on public trial in Afghanistan.

"We seriously demand and expect that the government of the United States punish the culprits and try them in a public trial before the people of Afghanistan," the lower house of parliament said in statement.

Hizbullah on Sunday claimed that “there are some March 14 associates in power who are involved in facilitating arming and infiltration into Syria,” describing the U.S. embassy in Lebanon as “a military operations room against Syria.”

“The countries that conspired against Syria have admitted that they had engaged in an uncalculated adventure and nowadays we’re noticing how they have started tactical, political retreats,” Sheikh Nabil Qaouq, deputy head of Hizbullah’s Executive Council, said.

President Barack Obama Friday called Russia's president-elect Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his election win, despite earlier U.S. concern over reported vote irregularities.

The call inaugurated a relationship that will decide the fate of "reset" U.S. relations with the Kremlin which the White House sees as a key foreign policy achievement headed into Obama's reelection campaign.

U.S. President Barack Obama and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai agreed in a video conference Thursday to continue a "partnership" tested by violence sparked after U.S. troops burned Korans.

"President Karzai updated the president on the security situation in Afghanistan, which has calmed since the events of recent weeks," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday welcomed comments by U.S. President Barack Obama damping down talk of war against Tehran over its controversial nuclear drive.

"This talk is good talk and shows an exit from illusion," Khamenei's website quoted the leader as telling clerics from the Assembly of Experts, the 86-member body which selects the supreme leader, supervises his activities and can dismiss him.

The United States offered Israel advanced weaponry in return for it committing not to attack Iran's nuclear facilities this year, Israeli daily Maariv reported on Thursday.

Citing unnamed Western diplomats and intelligence sources, the report said that during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week, the U.S. administration offered to supply Israel with advanced bunker-busting bombs and long-range refueling planes.

Syria's deputy oil minister resigned on Thursday, becoming the most senior official to join the rebel ranks, as Washington revealed it is mulling non-lethal aid to the insurgency.

Abdo Hussameddin announced his resignation in a video posted by activists on YouTube, saying he was joining the revolt.

U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday held a previously unannounced meeting with Libya's interim Prime Minister Abdul Rahim al-Kib and stressed the need for elections to go ahead in June.

The White House said Obama "applauded the prime minister for his leadership during Libya's democratic transition and his government's efforts to rebuild the country."

Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr has warned that arming rebel fighters in Syria would lead to a civil war, his ministry said on Wednesday.

Arming the ill-equipped rebels, mainly Syrian army defectors, would "lead to an escalation in the military conflict and spark a civil war in Syria", Amr said, according to a statement issued by his ministry.

Mitt Romney edged out rival Rick Santorum in a nail-biter vote in Ohio as he tightened his grip on the 2012 Republican presidential nomination with a string of Super Tuesday wins.

Santorum kept his hopes alive with a trio of victories in North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee, but Romney took six states: Idaho, Massachusetts, Virginia, Vermont, Alaska and, after a torturous wait, Ohio.