KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban has long exaggerated its military successes, but its figures for 2008 may be the militia's most startling claims yet. The Taliban claims its forces last year killed 5,220 foreign troops, downed 31 aircraft, destroyed 2,818 NATO and Afghan vehicles and killed 7,552 Afghan soldiers and police.

Though third-party observers can rarely confirm casualty claims on the Afghan battlefield from the Taliban, the Afghan government, the U.S. or NATO, the Taliban's 2008 numbers would appear to be far from the truth.

NATO's member countries announce all troop deaths, providing names, ages and hometowns and how the soldiers were killed. According to an Associated Press tally of those announcements, 286 foreign forces died last year in Afghanistan, including 151 American and 51 British troops. The Taliban's toll is almost 20 times higher.

BAGHDAD — The United States inaugurated its largest embassy ever in the heart of the Green Zone today, officially opening the fortress-like compound that was built as a testament to America's commitment to Iraq.Addressing an inauguration ceremony under tight security, Ambassador Ryan Crocker said the $700 million embassy was testimony to America's long-term friendship with Iraq, where about 146,000 U.S. troops are deployed.During the ceremony at the new embassy, U.S. Marines raised the American flag over the building, which sits on a 104-acre site and has space for 1,000 employees. The adobe-colored buildings resemble a corporate campus surrounded by huge walls of reinforced concrete.U.S. diplomats and military officials moved into the embassy on Dec. 31 after vacating Saddam's Republican Palace, which they occupied when they captured Baghdad in April 2003.

TOKYO — Two sushi bar owners paid more than $100,000 for a Japanese bluefin tuna at a Tokyo fish auction today, about 10 times the average price and the highest in nearly a decade, market officials said.The 282-pound premium tuna caught off the northern coast of Oma fetched $104,700, (9.63 million yen) the highest since 2001, when another Japanese bluefin tuna brought an all-time record 20 million yen.