WORLD NEWS

While Republican voters in South Carolina are being warned in a new ad not to trust Mitt Romney because, “like John Kerry, he speaks French,” politicking in Russia, where a new president will be elected in March, is a good deal less subtle.

At a time of heightened tensions with Iran, U.S. military officials told CNN Friday that U.S. military and Coast Guard ships had two close encounters earlier this month with high-speed Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf that exhibited provocative behavior. The incidents occurred January 6, according to a senior U.S. military official.

A hard-line Iranian newspaper called Thursday for retaliation against Israel, a day after the mysterious killing of a nuclear scientist in Tehran with a magnetic bomb attached to his car. Iran's top leader blamed Israel and the U.S.

For the second time in as many weeks, the U.S. military has rescued distressed Iranian sailors, despite the extremely high tensions between the two nations.