WASHINGTON — A retired State Department employee and his wife are expected to plead guilty Friday in federal court to charges that they have been spying for Cuba for decades.

Walter Kendall Myers, 72, and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, 71, have been held without bond since pleading not guilty in June to charges of wire fraud, serving as illegal agents for Cuba and conspiring to deliver classified information.

Federal prosecutors filed documents in the case Friday charging Myers with conspiracy to commit espionage and wire fraud. Gwendolyn Myers, was charged with conspiracy to gather and transmit national defense information. » read more

KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai began his second term Thursday under international pressure to select a Cabinet that can regain the trust of disillusioned Afghans, quash widespread government corruption and build a reliable military that can take charge of his country's defense.

However, the competition between foreign demands and domestic political IOUs was on display in the palace hall, where 800 invited guests attended Karzai's inauguration ceremony.

On one side of the cavernous room sat Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who's warned that the international community is losing patience with Karzai. » read more

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — President Barack Obama ended his trip to Asia on Thursday much as he'd begun it a week earlier, surrounded by U.S. forces as he sought to project an image of military unity ahead of a controversial announcement on troop levels for Afghanistan.

On the way to Tokyo last week, where he began the tour, Obama stopped for a rally at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska.

On Thursday, after a meeting and a brief news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul before Air Force One departed, the president visited Osan Air Base. About 1,500 U.S. service members, mostly from the Army and Air Force, gathered under a welcome banner and an American flag to see their commander in chief. » read more

MAHMUD-I-RAQI, Afghanistan — Hamid Karzai may be Afghanistan's next president — the result of ballot rigging and his opponent's withdrawal from a runoff — but Afghanistan's elections are far from over.

In the 34 provinces, legions of frustrated candidates who took part in district elections on Aug. 20 are still awaiting a final outcome. They say that the results of provincial balloting, which occurred the same day as the disputed presidential race, were skewed by insurgent violence, voter intimidation, ballot box stuffing and misconduct.

"There were people saying that if you give $20,000, we can make you a member of the council," said Abdul Wahab, a provincial councilman who in preliminary results lost his bid for reelection in Kapisa province in central Afghanistan. » read more

Cuba's government remains as repressive under Raul Castro as it was under his brother Fidel, according to the first in-depth report of the island's human rights since the younger Castro took power.

Titled New Castro, Same Cuba, the report by Human Rights Watch details a skein of cruel pressures on dissidents, relatives and friends that contradict initial hopes that Raúl Castro would be different.

"Castro inherited a system of abusive laws and institutions. . . . Rather than dismantle this repressive machinery, Raúl Castro has kept it firmly in place and fully active,'' said the report, unveiled Wednesday in Washington. » read more