A suicide bomber has killed 10 civilians in southern Afghanistan, the second attack on the same day President Hamid Karzai was sworn into office. The bombing in Uruzgan province followed a suicide attack in neighbouring Zabul, which killed two US soldiers.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts global economic activity will be back to normal within 25 months. The Paris-based grouping of 30 of the world's richest nations also warned of rising national debts from continued stimulus spending.

UN experts will visit a controversial uranium enrichment plant south of Tehran on Thursday. This comes as US President Barack Obama warned of "consequences" after Iran dismissed a UN-brokered nuclear fuel deal.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed to combat corruption and extended a hand out to his chief rival, Abdullah Abdullah, after he was sworn in for a second term on Thursday, facing Western pressure to restore legitimacy as a US-led war stretches into a ninth year.