Ethiopian troops and Somali government forces have seized control of a key rebel-held town in Somalia after battling al-Qaida-linked militants.

Somali officials say the fighting began early Saturday after Ethiopian and Somali forces attacked positions held by al-Shabab fighters on the outskirts of Beledweyne, about 30 kilometers from the Ethiopian border.

A resident of Beledweyne told the French news agency that 18 people, most of them militants, died in the fighting.

But al-Shabab denied it was defeated and said many Ethiopian troops were killed in the clashes. The militant group said it carried out a planned withdrawal from Beledweyne after the fighting.

Saturday's assault on Beledweyne marks the third location in Somalia where militants have been challenged. Control of the town has changed hands often in recent months as different militias push to seize control of it.

African Union troops have mostly forced al-Shabab out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and Kenyan troops are battling militants in the south.

Somalia has been mired in anarchy since warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Indian authorities say the devastating cyclone that struck the country's southeastern coast Friday killed at least 42 people and damaged hundreds of homes.

Cyclone Thane lashed the coast between Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu state and the territory of Pondicherry with winds up to 135 kilometers per hour, before gradually weakening.

Officials say at least 26 of the deaths were in the Cuddalore district. They say most of the deaths were caused by wall collapses and electrocution.

Authorities said Saturday that engineers are working to restore telephone and power lines that were cut off in some regions during the cyclone.

Coastal villages were evacuated to shelters before Thane hit land.

Iran has proposed a new round of talks on its controversial nuclear program while apparently delaying long-range missiles tests that it had said would take place Saturday.

The state-run IRNA news agency says nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili has invited the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany to “come back to talks.”

The P5 + 1 last met with Iran in January. The meeting ended with no agreement. At the time, Jalili said Tehran would maintain its right to nuclear technology, including uranium enrichment.

Western powers accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear technology to make atomic weapons. Iran says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.

Earlier Saturday, the semi-official Mehr news agency said Iran's ambassador to Germany would propose the talks in a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. He did not say how or when the letter would be sent.

Meanwhile, Reuters news quotes an EU spokesman as saying the group remains open to “meaningful discussions” that do not include “preconditions from the Iranian side.”

The developments have come at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and some Western powers.

On Friday, Iran said it would fire long-range missiles on Saturday as part of military exercises that are underway in the Persian Gulf. However, the Fars news agency on Saturday quoted a deputy navy commander as saying the military would test-fire a mid-range missile “during the final days” of the military exercise.

Earlier in the week, Iran drew criticism after threatening to block oil shipments through the strategic Strait of Hormuz if Western powers imposed sanctions targeting its oil exports.

Tehran made the threat after EU ministers said that a decision on further economic sanctions on Iran for its controversial nuclear program would be made in coming weeks. The ministers said the sanctions could include a boycott of Iranian oil.

Witnesses in Somalia say Ethiopian troops and other fighters have forced al-Shabab militants to flee a western border town in Somalia.

Residents of the Somali border town of Beledweyne say the al-Qaida linked militants fled the town Saturday before the troops arrived.

Some residents say they heard gunfire on the outskirts of town, but there has been no confirmed reports of casualties on either side.

Beledweyne lies some 30 kilometers from the border with Somalia. Control of the town has changed hands frequently in recent months as different militias push to seize control of it.

Saturday's assault on Beledweyne marks the third location in Somalia where militants have been challenged.

African Union troops have mostly forced al-Shabab out the capital, Mogadishu, and Kenyan troops are battling militants in the south.

Somalia has been mired in anarchy since warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Pakistan security officials say a bomb blast has killed two Pakistani soldiers in the country's northwest near the Afghan border.

The remote-controlled bomb ripped through a vehicle in a military convoy Saturday on the outskirts of Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the area is a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants.

Elsewhere in the northwest, a homemade bomb has exploded outside a tribal elder's home in the Khyber tribal region, killing two people and wounding at least four others.

A major land route to Afghanistan passes through Khyber and was used to supply U.S.-led coalition troops before Pakistan suspended it to protest a November NATO air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Also Saturday, security officials say military gunship helicopters attacked militant hideouts in the neighboring Orakzai tribal region, killing at least 10 militants. The death toll could not be independently verified.

On Friday, a car bomb killed at least 13 people in the country's southwestern province of Baluchistan.

Police say the device went off outside a house in the provincial capital, Quetta. The house was used by the family of former provincial minister Naseer Mengal.

There was no immediate word as to whether Mengal or any members of his family were among the victims. There was also no immediate claim of responsibility.

Baluchistan has been in the grip of a regional insurgency for years as separatist militants fight for more autonomy and greater control over natural resources.

The province bordering Iran and Afghanistan also is home to pro-Taliban militants.

The Vatican's news agency says more than two dozen priests, nuns and lay Catholics were killed worldwide in 2011.

The Fides news agency announced Friday at least 26 people were killed in violence this year.

Latin America recorded the highest murder rate for pastoral workers for a third straight year, with 13 priests and two others killed in 2011.

Six church workers were killed in Africa, four in Asia and one priest was murdered in Europe this year.

The news agency says 25 church workers were killed worldwide in 2010 compared to 37 in 2009.

Two of Syria's largest opposition groups are uniting to map out a path for the country's transition, should President Bashar al-Assad's government be toppled.

Representatives from the Syrian National Council and the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, or NCB, signed an agreement late Friday in Cairo laying out the parameters for democratic rule if Mr. Assad is ousted by anti-government protesters.

The deal comes as unrest in Syria continues, despite the presence of Arab League observers monitoring the government's response to the demonstrations.

Activists say Syrian forces killed at least 32 people on Friday.

The opposition Local Coordination Committee of Syria says most of the deaths occurred after forces opened fire on anti-government protesters in several locations.

Activists and witnesses say hundreds of thousands of people rallied across Syria Friday with renewed calls for President Bashar al-Assad's departure.

The United Nations said it was critical that the Arab League observers be given “unhindered access and full cooperation” by the Syrian government.

Meanwhile, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario says he will fly to Syria Saturday to oversee the evacuation of thousands of Filipino workers amid the escalating violence. Officials say the Philippine government helped 56 Filipinos flee the country on Saturday. The Asian nation is one of the world's largest labor exporters.

Syria pulled some of its tanks from Homs and released about 800 prisoners. But opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun said the government continues to hold more than 100,000 people, “some of them in military barracks and aboard ships off the Syrian coast.”

Syrian authorities agreed to allow observers to monitor the situation in the country, under international pressure and threats of Arab sanctions. The plan requires the government to give the monitors freedom of movement except for sensitive military sites.

The United Nations estimates 5,000 people have been killed since March in violence linked to Syria's unrest. Syria says armed terrorists are driving the revolt. It accuses them of killing 2,000 security personnel since March.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he welcomes U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's remarks that the Taliban in Afghanistan are not America's enemies.

In a December 19 interview with the U.S magazine Newsweek, Biden said President Barack Obama has made no statement in any U.S. policy assertions that the Taliban is “our enemy.” The vice president said the insurgent group did not represent a threat to the United States, unless it continued to harbor al-Qaida.

On Saturday, Mr. Karzai said during a speech in Kabul that the Afghan people are very happy that America has announced that the Taliban are not their enemy. He said such a message will help bring peace and stability.

Earlier this week, the Afghan president said his government would accept the opening of a Taliban liaison office in the Gulf state of Qatar to resume peace talks with the insurgents as long as Afghans lead the negotiations.

U.S. officials have been quoted as saying that the United States is open to negotiating a peace agreement with the Taliban and that a possible deal could include the transfer of Taliban prisoners from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Pakistan security officials say a bomb blast has killed two Pakistani soldiers in the country's northwest near the Afghan border.

The remote-controlled bomb ripped through a vehicle in a military convoy Saturday on the outskirts of Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the area is a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants.

Elsewhere in the northwest, a homemade bomb has exploded outside a tribal elder's home in the Khyber tribal region, killing two people and wounding at least four others.

A major land route to Afghanistan passes through Khyber and was used to supply U.S.-led coalition troops before Pakistan suspended it to protest a November NATO air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

On Friday, a car bomb killed at least 13 people in the country's southwestern province of Baluchistan.

Police say the device went off outside a house in the provincial capital, Quetta. The house was used by the family of former provincial minister Naseer Mengal.

There was no immediate word as to whether Mengal or any members of his family were among the victims. There was also no immediate claim of responsibility.

Baluchistan has been in the grip of a regional insurgency for years as separatist militants fight for more autonomy and greater control over natural resources.

The province bordering Iran and Afghanistan also is home to pro-Taliban militants.