A suicide bomber in a school uniform attacked soldiers during morning exercises at a Pakistani army training camp Thursday, killing 31 troops and wounding 20 others, police and the military said.

The attack in the northwest town of Mardan showed that despite years of army operations against their hideouts along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, Taliban and al-Qaida-linked fighters retain the ability to strike back. It was one of the worst attacks on security forces in recent months.

President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday ordered the deployment of additional weaponry on the Kuril islands claimed by Japan, adding Russia needed to expand its presence on an "inseparable" part of its territory.

"The additional weapons which will be deployed there must be sufficient and modern to ensure the security of these islands which are an inseparable part of the Russian Federation," Medvedev said, quoted by Russian news agencies.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Wednesday said prosecutors requesting to put him on trial immediately are acting subversively and dismissed their case as a pretext to oust him.

Berlusconi was reacting to news that Milan prosecutors had requested an immediate trial based on allegations the prime minister abused his power and paid for sex with an underage girl.

Pakistan's ministers on Wednesday submitted their resignations to the prime minister, who intends to dissolve the cabinet and appoint a smaller version to tackle economic problems, an official said.

"Today's meeting is going to be the last meeting of the present cabinet," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the cabinet.

Military officers from North and South Korea Wednesday ended two days of talks without reaching agreement, Yonhap news agency reported.

The South's defense ministry said it could not immediately confirm the report.

Russia has deployed short-range nuclear warheads in its Kaliningrad territory which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania, Lithuanian Defense Minister Rasa Jukneviciene claimed Tuesday.

"We want major nations to start negotiations on reducing the number of such weapons. It's no secret that such weapons are deployed near us, in Kaliningrad. And to our east as well," Jukneviciene told Lithuanian public radio.

Julian Assange could easily be interviewed by videolink over allegations of rape and molestation, a British court heard Tuesday as the WikiLeaks founder fights extradition to Sweden.

Assange was back in Britain's highest-security court for the final day of a two-day hearing to decide whether the former computer hacker can be extradited.

A Muslim mob burned churches and clashed with police in Indonesia on Tuesday as it demanded the death penalty for a Christian man convicted of blaspheming against Islam, police said.

Two days after a Muslim lynch mob killed three members of a minority Islamic sect, crowds of furious Muslims set two churches alight as they rampaged in anger over the prison sentence imposed on defendant Antonius Bawengan, 58.

Russia said Monday it was premature to set the date for a new round of nuclear disarmament talks on the short-range missiles whose reduction is sought by the United States.

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration is keen to launch talks over so-called tactical weapons that have remained uncovered by previous nuclear disarmament agreements with Russia.

Gunmen in southwestern Pakistan attacked five oil tankers carrying supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan, officials said Monday.

The incident took place near the town of Mithri, some 230 kilometers southeast of Quetta, the capital of the restive oil and gas-rich Baluchistan province which borders Iran and Afghanistan.