After days of chaos, Egypt's first post-Mubarak vote goes smoothly

Defying predictions of violence and chaos, Egyptians flooded polling stations Monday to cast ballots in the first elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. | 11/28/11 10:41:11 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Baghdad suicide car bomb targets prison gates, kills 11, injures 26

Security officials said a car driven by a suicide bomber killed at least 11 people and wounded 26 others at the entrance of al Hoot prison in north Baghdad on Monday, just weeks before the final pull-out of U.S forces from Iraq. | 11/28/11 10:36:35 By - Sahar Issa

Wyclef Jean defends his Haiti charity's spending

Haiti-born hip hop star Wyclef Jean says an article in the New York Post questioning how his charity, Yele Haiti, spent millions of dollars in aid for victims of the January 2010 Haiti earthquake is “misleading, deceptive and incomplete.” | 11/28/11 06:50:25 By - Jacqueline Charles

No joy in Egypt as voters head to first post-Mubarak elections

Millions of Egyptians will vote Monday in the first election since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, but the mood is somber rather than celebratory in a country that's more divided and politically unstable than at any time in recent memory. | 11/27/11 17:57:00 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

U.S., Pakistan offer different versions of attack on border post

NATO officials said Afghan and U.S. troops operating inside Afghanistan early Saturday had been fired on from the Pakistani side of the border and had requested close air support to help defend themselves. But Pakistan's chief military spokesman said he did not believe that there had been any fire directed at the Americans from Pakistan and said he did not believe the U.S. attack could have been inadvertent. | 11/27/11 17:14:00 By - Saeed Shah and Nancy A. Youssef

Yemen presidential vote set for Feb. 21; Saleh returns home

Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Saturday set Feb. 21 as the date that Yemenis will go to the polls to select at new president to replace Ali Abdullah Saleh, who agreed last week to step down after 10 months of protests against his rule. | 11/26/11 16:39:00 By - Adam Baron

Pakistan blocks U.S. supplies, orders drone base closed after NATO raid

Pakistan on Saturday blocked supply routes for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan and announced it would end the use of a Pakistani airbase by American forces, in retaliation for a NATO attack on a Pakistani border outpost that officials said killed at least 24 soldiers and injuring another 13. | 11/26/11 15:57:00 By - Saeed Shah

Thousands of Egyptians press demand for military council to step down

Egypt on Friday appeared on the cusp of a protracted battle for control of the country’s once-promising revolution, with military rulers and protesters staging rival demonstrations and showing preferences for different prime ministers. | 11/26/11 02:14:00 By - Hannah Allam

Bombings in Baghdad claim at least 15 lives as U.S. drawdown continues

At least 15 Iraqis were killed and 41 others wounded in two separate incidents in the Iraqi capital Saturday, police said | 11/26/11 10:21:22 By - Laith Hammoudi

Pakistan targets U.S. troop supplies, drone base after NATO kills 24

Pakistan on Saturday blocked supply routes for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan and announced it would end American use of a Pakistani airbase in retaliation for a NATO attack on a Pakistani border outpost that officials said killed at least 24 soldiers and injured another 13. | 11/26/11 09:42:42 By - Saeed Shah

Report finds Bahrain systematically tortured political detainees

An international human rights panel concluded Wednesday that the Sunni Muslim government of the small Gulf island of Bahrain carried out "deliberate" and "systematic" torture against many of the 2,929 people it arrested last spring during protests demanding more democracy. | 11/25/11 01:01:00 By - Roy Gutman

Syria faces Arab League sanctions as deadline slips

A deadline the Arab League had set for Syria to sign a deal allowing observers into the country to monitor whether the government was adhering to a peace plan expired Friday without any Syrian response, setting the stage for the league to impose sanctions on the regime of President Bashar Assad. | 11/25/11 15:22:00 By - Ipek Yezdani

Egypt’s ruling generals: Elections will go on despite violence

Egypt’s beleaguered military council said Thursday that it would press ahead with a parliamentary election Monday, though it acknowledged “many violations” by security forces whose efforts to clear out protesters backfired and triggered a wider uprising just days before the landmark vote. | 11/24/11 10:44:16 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Video: Protests rage on in Cairo's Tahrir Square

The protests rage on in Cairo's Tahrir Square as Egyptians demand an end to the military council's rule. | 11/23/11 19:55:29 By -

After five days, no break in Egypt's turmoil

With a milestone election just five days away, Egypt showed no sign Wednesday of recovering from a spasm of violence that's wrecked the campaign period and spiraled into a rebellion that now threatens the ruling military council's grip on the nation. | 11/23/11 19:35:00 By - Hannah Allam

Tahrir Square - a battlefield, a protest, and a way to make a living

On Wednesday, Mohamed Mahmoud Street, a main artery named for a ruthless interior minister who served between 1937 and 1938, was a microcosm of what has gone on in downtown Cairo for five days now. | 11/23/11 19:05:00 By - Mohannad Sabry

Mexico political parties duel over drug cartel influence

A scandal deepened Wednesday over drug traffickers' political influence as a losing party in a recent state election accused the party it lost to of ties to gangsters. | 11/23/11 17:42:00 By - Tim Johnson

A defiant Saleh agrees to step down as Yemen's president

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Wednesday transferred power to his deputy and agreed to leave office within 90 days, bringing to a climax 10 months of often bloody political wrangling that has left his impoverished nation economically crippled and on the verge of anarchy. | 11/23/11 17:05:00 By - Adam Baron

Woman who wants Pakistan's blasphemy law reformed is new ambassador to U.S.

Sherry Rehman, a high-profile politician under threat for her call to reform Pakistan's blasphemy law, was named Pakistan's new ambassador to Washington on Wednesday, one day after her predecessor was forced to resign at the apparent behest of the country's powerful military. | 11/23/11 15:23:00 By - Saeed Shah

Yemen's Saleh agrees to step down; elections set in 90 days

Embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Wednesday signed an agreement to surrender power within 30 days, the culmination of more than nine months of effort to force him to step down. | 11/23/11 07:49:14 By - Adam Baron

Pakistan names human rights advocate to be ambassador to U.S.

Sherry Rehman, a high-profile politician under threat for her call to reform Pakistan's blasphemy law, was appointed as the new ambassador to Washington on Wednesday, a day after her predecessor Husain Haqqani was ousted at the apparent behest of the country’s powerful military. | 11/23/11 07:45:56 By - Saeed Shah

Egypt's military says it will cede power next year; demonstrators demand more

The head of Egypt's embattled ruling military council on Tuesday pledged a faster transfer of power to civilians and a new caretaker government, but his promises were instantly rejected by tens of thousands of protesters who roared their objection to Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi's offer in one word: "Leave!" | 11/22/11 20:00:00 By - Hannah Allam and David Enders

U.S. official warns Ethiopia not to invade Somalia, but it's too late

The State Department's top Africa policymaker on Tuesday warned Ethiopia not to invade Somalia, but the warning came too late, with Somalis claiming that Ethiopian troops were already rolling through their villages in trucks | 11/22/11 18:55:00 By - Alan Boswell and Mohammed Yusuf

South Sudan and Sudan at loggerheads over oil talks

The South Sudanese government has seized what had been Sudan's share of the south's oil production and has decided to build a new pipeline that would not cross through Sudanese territory, the latest sign that the two former war foes are unlikely to resolve by negotiation the issues created when South Sudan became an independent country this summer. | 11/22/11 18:07:00 By - Alan Boswell

For lucky Louisianans, Mexico casino was a jackpot

Leandrus J. Young says he has no regrets about partnering with the "casino czar" of Mexico. He made money, a lot of money. While others say they were swindled by Juan Jose "Pepe" Rojas-Cardona, Young only sings praises. He is one of a group of Louisiana investors who did well taking bets on the nascent Mexico casino industry. | 11/22/11 16:54:00 By - Tim Johnson

U.S. officials no help, says Indian tribe that lost in Mexico swindle

In hindsight, the investment in a Mexico casino scam by the disadvantaged Lac Vieux Desert Band was unwise. But what's more surprising, tribal members say, is the lack of interest among elected officials into what they say amounts to a racketeering scam in which U.S. Indian tribes were specifically targeted by foreigners using a Louisiana lawyer and intermediaries. | 11/22/11 16:54:00 By - Tim Johnson

For U.S. investors, reclaiming money is tough

It seemed like a chance of a lifetime. William Andrew Graven had in his hands an offer to stake a claim on Mexico's future in gambling just as casinos were opening their doors. Only thing was, it was a scam. The Mexican operator offering the venture emptied Graven's wallet of some $3 million, then said goodbye. When Graven traveled to Monterrey to press his case, a posse of armed men surrounded his vehicle and ordered him to leave. | 11/22/11 16:54:00 By - Tim Johnson

Corruption in Mexico casinos takes a toll in the U.S., too

When a Mexico casino czar named Juan Jose Rojas-Cardona sent an offer to the Chippewa Indian tribe known as the Lac Vieux Desert Band to invest in Mexico's booming gambling industry, it seemed like a godsend. But the disadvantaged tribe's multimillion-dollar "investment" disappeared, adding to a list of victims that includes a mammoth hedge fund in London, an Australian manufacturer of gaming machines, an Arizona investor and two Mexican textile tycoons. | 11/22/11 16:54:00 By - Tim Johnson

Israel preparing for day when it has no relations with Egypt

The surreptitious departure of Israel's ambassador from Egypt on Tuesday symbolized to many Israeli officials the new state of affairs between the neighboring countries. | 11/22/11 14:42:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Pakistan ambassador to Washington resigns

A confrontation between Pakistan’s powerful military and the civilian government, over a controversial offer supposedly made by the government to the U.S. administration to rein in the army forces and its spy agency, led Tuesday to the resignation of the Islamabad’s ambassador to Washington. | 11/22/11 11:22:37 By - Saeed Shah

Tens of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square call for Tantawi to go

Tens of thousands of anti-military protesters streamed into downtown Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square on Tuesday as the nation waited anxiously for the head of the embattled ruling military council to break his silence on unrest that threatens to derail next week’s elections. | 11/22/11 09:55:47 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Crisis intensifies as Egypt's government resigns

Egypt's civilian Cabinet resigned Monday to protest the military's harsh crackdown on demonstrators as an uprising against the ruling military council swelled into a third day of running battles in downtown Cairo. | 11/21/11 20:14:00 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

U.S., Britain tighten financial screws on Iran

The United States and its allies on Monday increased financial pressure on Iran with targeted sanctions on that nation's energy sector and central bank as further punishment for pursuing nuclear weapons technology. | 11/21/11 19:18:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Four months into nationhood, South Sudan struggles

A South Sudanese rebel leader with suspected ties to Sudan declared more people "must die" for the cause of peace and democracy in the world's youngest nation after talks here between him and the South Sudanese government broke down after less than a week of negotiations. | 11/20/11 17:13:00 By - Alan Boswell

Egypt's turmoil plunges the restive nation toward crisis

Egypt plunged deeper into political crisis just eight days before elections, with security forces attacking protesters and torching their tents Sunday amid unrest that appears to be heading toward a second uprising, this time against Egypt's military rulers. | 11/20/11 14:36:00 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Syrian rebel group claims attack on ruling party office in Damascus

Rocket-propelled grenades reportedly struck a Damascus office of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s Baath Party before dawn Sunday, the first attack of its kind in the capital since an anti-government uprising began last spring. | 11/20/11 07:47:29 By - Hannah Allam

Afghanistan loya jirga sets conditions for new pact with U.S.

An overwhelming majority of the participants of a loya jirga or the grand council of elders on Saturday backed President Hamid Karzai's call for a long-term partnership with the United States that would come into effect after the withdrawal of international troops in 2014. | 11/19/11 11:12:50 By - Habib Zohori

Kansas City lawyers tried to sign Gadhafi as client

A father-and-son lawyer team with offices in Springfield and Kansas City tried in April to sign late Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi as a client. The two had joined forces with an eclectic international collection of people with careers in the law and foreign relations. They approached Gadhafi’s regime as the American Action Group. They listed first among their membership Randell K. Wood, a lawyer who earned his law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and had a long-standing practice in Springfield. Wood lobbied for the Libyans in the late 1980s for the removal of U.S. sanctions. | 11/18/11 19:44:25 By - Scott Canon and David Goldstein

Massive protests hit Cairo days before elections

Tens of thousands of Egyptians chanting anti-military slogans flooded downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to protest the ruling military council's attempts to expand its powers and prolong the transition to civilian rule. | 11/18/11 18:25:00 By - Mohannad Sabry

WikiLeaks: U.S. warned Kenya against invading Somalia

U.S. cables made public by WikiLeaks show that the United States warned Kenya two years ago not to launch an offensive in southern Somalia against al Qaida-allied al Shabab rebels, but a U.S. official also offered to check on the "feasibility" of a U.S. review of the plans. | 11/18/11 17:42:00 By - Alan Boswell

Pakistan cracks down on obscenity in text messages

Pakistan's telecommunications regulator has ordered cellphone companies to monitor text messages and block any that contain any of more than 1,100 words and phrases that could be considered swear words, references to sex acts or terms of abuse. | 11/18/11 16:00:00 By - Saeed Shah

Syrian civil war seems certain as death toll rises among security forces

The Syrian uprising against authoritarian President Bashar Assad appears headed toward a Libya-style civil war, with dissidents increasingly using violence against the government's forces and no apparent letup in the government's deadly crackdown despite a renewed Arab push for an end to the bloodshed. | 11/17/11 19:07:00 By - Hannah Allam

Greeks remain pro-euro, but austerity may test their will

Thomas Vitsounis was a teenager when Greece dropped its old currency, the drachma, and adopted the euro in 2001. He still remembers how proud he felt. Here was proof, he says, that his country had finally evolved from a backward Balkan state into a respected member of Europe. | 11/17/11 18:19:00 By - Joanna Kakissis

Pakistan roiled by claims of civilian move against military leaders

Pakistan recalled its ambassador to Washington on Thursday amid a growing clamor here over claims that Pakistan's civilian president had sought U.S. backing against senior military leaders in the wake of the discovery that al Qaida founder Osama bin Laden had been living in Pakistan. | 11/17/11 17:31:00 By - Saeed Shah

Kabul's unlikely housing bubble seems ready to burst

The war in his homeland was a boom time for Sayed Aman Abed. The Kabul real estate broker made a small fortune over the past several years as billions of dollars in foreign aid and reconstruction contracts flooded into Afghanistan, creating a robust market for homebuyers and renters in the capital. Abed, a slight, boyish 25-year-old, did well enough to pick up the entire tab for his wedding last year, which cost $27,000, a princely sum in Afghanistan. | 11/17/11 15:18:00 By - Shashank Bengali

China Rises blog: China, protest and self-immolation

Followers of China news have been presented with two disturbing images in the past 24 hours. Both say something about a facet of today's China. Before considering them, a question: How angry or helpless does an individual have to feel before they commit to setting their own flesh aflame? | 11/17/11 13:57:49 By - Tom Lasseter

Boat carrying 17 Cubans runs aground in Cayman Islands

Seventeen Cubans fleeing their country were detained in the Cayman Islands after their wooden sailboat ran aground in the Caribbean territory, according to a Cayman government announcement. | 11/17/11 11:29:04 By - Juan O. Tamayo

China's economic rise hasn't brought moves toward democracy

A juxtaposition of the two events — a stage-managed election marred by thuggish behavior and the West's lender of last resort looking for cash — was a reminder of a central question surrounding China's growing strength on the world stage: What are the consequences of an opaque, authoritarian government hurtling toward such immense international power? | 11/17/11 01:00:00 By - Tom Lasseter

Egypt's Islamists reach out to liberals as elections near

Shadi Taha, clean-shaven, in a black suit and spit-shined shoes, drew curious stares one recent evening as he sat among local men at a rundown cafe in this industrial Cairo suburb. | 11/17/11 01:49:00 By - Hannah Allam

Can the oceans continue to feed us?

Far out on the Pacific Ocean, the world's industrial fishing fleets pursue one of the last huge wild hunts — for the tuna eaten by millions of people around the world. | 11/17/11 01:20:40 By - Renee Schoof

Failed Afghan road project shows difficulties of U.S. rebuilding effort

Alleging corruption and theft, U.S. officials in Ghazni terminated a $10 million road contract, pulling the plug on a closely watched infrastructure project in this strategic province and putting themselves at odds with a powerful governor who coalition forces had hoped would be a key ally. | 11/17/11 01:26:00 By - Shashank Bengali

Violence in Nile port city sparks worry about Egypt military's tactics

A deadly clash between soldiers and protesters in this Nile Delta city is sharpening concerns that the Egyptian military has decided to confront peaceful protesters with harsh tactics, including live ammunition, in the volatile weeks before parliamentary elections begin Nov. 28. | 11/17/11 01:38:00 By - Mohannad Sabry

Karzai: U.S. should end night raids, close prisons in Afghanistan

A four-day gathering of more than 2,000 influential Afghan elders began Wednesday to consider what framework should guide future relations with the United States, with President Hamid Karzai calling for a strong partnership "but with conditions" aimed at preserving Afghanistan's "national sovereignty." | 11/17/11 01:01:00 By - Habib Zohori

Holocaust survivors argue for quest to sue European companies

Few survived to tell the heart-rending survival story that Leo Bretholz chronicled in his book, "Leap Into Darkness," an account of his daring escape in 1942 from a French train bound for the Auschwitz concentration camp. Bretholz and two fellow Holocaust survivors on Wednesday appealed to Congress for the ability to sue European companies such as Allianz AG, a German insurance giant, in state courts for unpaid life insurance policies sold before World War II. | 11/17/11 01:52:00 By - Erika Bolstad

Anti-settler groups say new Israeli law targets them

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has thrown its support behind a series of bills that left-wing political groups say are intended to weaken them by severely limiting their funding. | 11/17/11 01:25:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Not for the faint of heart: Volcano-boarding in Nicaragua

Volcano-boarding is the latest and most unusual adventure sport to hit Central America, and it's only done on Cerro Negro, a 2,388-foot-high active volcano that's one of a string of some 25 volcanoes that traverse Nicaragua. | 11/17/11 01:41:00 By - Tim Johnson

'Timonchenko' takes helm of Colombia’s FARC rebels

The new leader of Colombia’s oldest rebel organization is said to be an astute and hardened guerrilla, who commands the group’s intelligence apparatus and is suspected of having deep ties in neighboring Venezuela. | 11/17/11 02:01:29 By - Jim Wyss

Nicaragua's top cop, who once wanted to be a nun, fends off drug gangs

Even as drug gangs are taking control of wide swaths of other Central American countries, a gentle and unassuming 60-year-old grandmother appears to have held them off as national police chief of Nicaragua. | 11/17/11 01:40:00 By - Tim Johnson

Karzai: U.S. should end night raids, close prisons in Afghanistan

A four-day gathering of more than 2,000 influential Afghan elders began Wednesday to consider what framework should guide future relations with the United States, with President Hamid Karzai calling for a strong partnership "but with conditions" aimed at preserving Afghanistan's "national sovereignty." | 11/16/11 08:41:39 By - Habib Zohori

Palestinians board Israeli settler buses to protest travel restrictions

Six Palestinian activists were arrested Tuesday when they attempted to enter Jerusalem on buses designated for Israelis alone. The group was hoping to bring attention to Israeli restrictions on Palestinians' freedom of movement in the West Bank by invoking the spirit of American civil rights activists who rode buses in the South in the 1960s in protest racial discrimination. | 11/15/11 17:39:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Green probe has guitar maker, Gibson, playing the blues

A fight between the Obama administration and iconic guitar manufacturer Gibson has reignited debate about just how much a U.S. company must know about its foreign trade partners and how much control it must exert over those from whom it buys. | 11/15/11 16:13:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Remittances to Latin America, Caribbean are rising again

A report by the Bank of México in early August indicated that money transfers during the first six months of this year had increased 5 percent compared to the same period last year. Likewise, a report by the IDB issued in March indicated that money transfers to the region from the United States, which had plunged dramatically in 2009, began to stabilize in 2010. | 11/14/11 07:00:23 By - Alfonso Chardy

Coalition says Taliban 'security plan' is forgery

Attempting to embarrass the Afghan government ahead of a major national assembly, the Taliban on Sunday published what they called the government's secret security plan for the event, including details of troop deployments and cell phone numbers of security officials. | 11/13/11 15:44:00 By - Habib Zohori

Arab League suspends Syria, calls for talks on transition with Assad opponents

The Arab League on Saturday suspended Syria's participation and warned of political and economic sanctions. | 11/12/11 14:40:00 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad al Sabry

Helicopter crash claims Mexico's interior minister

Interior Minister Francisco Blake Mora and seven other people died Friday in a helicopter crash in the southern part of the Mexican capital, the government said. It was the second time that one of President Felipe Calderon's interior ministers had been killed in an air crash over Mexico City. | 11/11/11 16:58:00 By - Margarita Moreno and Tim Johnson

Video: Volcano surfing in Nicaragua

A new thrill for some is surfing the volcano rock of a volcano in Nicaragua | 11/11/11 15:25:29 By -

Mexico's interior minister killed in helicopter crash in Mexico City

Interior Minister Francisco Blake Mora and seven other people died Friday in a helicopter crash in the southern part of the Mexican capital, the government said. | 11/11/11 15:22:01 By - Margarita Moreno and Tim Johnson

U.S. economy remains at risk from European financial mess

Stocks around the globe returned to positive territory Thursday, a day after European worries sparked steep losses. Europe's woes, however, remain a clear and present danger to the fragile U.S. economic recovery. | 11/10/11 18:07:07 By - Kevin G. Hall

Palestinians concede that bid for U.N. statehood will fail

Palestinian officials admitted Thursday that their bid for statehood in the United Nations in all likelihood has failed. A U.N. Security Council committee that's been considering the Palestinian application for recognition as a member state is expected to issue a final statement Friday saying that it had been unable to muster majority support for the bid. The committee released a draft statement earlier this week that made the same point. | 11/10/11 16:51:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

In Nicaragua, fears that Ortega will be the new Somoza

Ghosts of tyrants and dictators past haunt Nicaragua, a land of volcanoes and political curses, and some say the nation hasn't broken its jinx. Even as President Daniel Ortega, a onetime leftist guerrilla commander, glows in a landslide electoral triumph for a new five-year term, many former comrades-in-arms see a new autocrat in the making. | 11/10/11 15:56:00 By - Tim Johnson

Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez and first daughter in Tweet clash

Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez and sexologist Mariela Castro have clashed in a battle of tweets that had Raúl Castro’s daughter storming off the field of combat after calling her critics “despicable parasites.” | 11/10/11 13:43:49 By - Juan O. Tamayo

Why George W. Bush is the Arab Spring's forgotten man

On Nov. 6, 2003, then President George W. Bush gave a major foreign policy address in which he called for the spread of democracy across the Middle East, an appeal that seems to be resonating in this year of Arab Spring revolts. Yet less than three years after leaving office, Bush gets little credit for having inspired them. | 11/10/11 01:07:00 By - James Rosen

How big a threat is Al Qaida's North Africa branch?

An Algerian Islamist rebel group that in 2007 rebranded itself as al Qaida's affiliate in North Africa, dubbed al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has accomplished a notable feat, moving its operations from Algeria across the Sahara, the transcontinental desert that throughout history has halted empires in their tracks and for millennia kept black Africa separated from Eurasia. | 11/10/11 01:11:00 By - Alan Boswell

As peace hopes fade, so do Israel's memories of Yitzhak Rabin

A dozen students on a field trip stood in front of the Yitzhak Rabin memorial in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the former prime minister's assassination. | 11/10/11 01:26:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Egyptians fear violence, prolonged military rule as elections near

Fair and transparent elections were a core demand of the thousands of protesters who toppled President Hosni Mubarak last winter, but now that the moment has arrived, many Egyptians are more anxious than eager. | 11/10/11 01:01:00 By - Hannah Allam

Apparent Ortega win likely to cement Sandinista hold on Nicaragua

President Daniel Ortega appeared headed for a landslide re-election victory Monday, an outcome likely to cement Sandinista leadership — and Ortega's dominance of Nicaragua — for years to come | 11/10/11 01:38:00 By - Tim Johnson

Obama's 9 days in Asia aim to assert growing U.S. stakes there

President Barack Obama will leave Friday on a nine-day trip to Hawaii, Australia and Indonesia, underscoring the region's rising profile but leaving town at a politically inconvenient time as he accuses Congress of not doing enough to goose the slumping economy. | 11/10/11 01:32:00 By - Lesley Clark

Colombian paramilitary leader gets 33-year sentence for drug trafficking in Miami

A Colombian paramilitary warlord who pleaded guilty to exporting tons of cocaine into the United States to fund terrorism in his homeland was sentenced in Miami to 33 years in prison, authorities said Wednesday. | 11/10/11 06:55:13 By - Jay Weaver

U.S. lawmakers push to keep pressure on Syria's Assad

The United States and the rest of the international community need to increase pressure to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad and develop a comprehensive strategy to assist in forging democracy in the country once he's gone. | 11/09/11 18:52:00 By - William Douglas and Shahid Ali Panhwer

Guantanamo trial for Cole bombing suspect delayed for a year

The reputed mastermind of the USS Cole bombing made his first appearance in before a U.S. military commission judge Wednesday, the first time Abd al Rahim al Nashiri had been seen in public since he was arrested in 2002 and spiritied into a series of secret CIA prisons. | 11/09/11 18:14:00 By - Carol Rosenberg

Judge opens remote Guantanamo war court viewing site to 'general public'

Hours ahead of the arraignment of an alleged al-Qaida chieftain, a military judge on Tuesday ordered the Defense Department to admit dozens of members of the “general public” to the first-ever broadcast of a Guantánamo terror tribunal on U.S. soil. Wednesday’s hearing was expected to be quick, and historic. | 11/09/11 07:01:01 By - Carol Rosenberg

Alleged USS Cole bomber Nashiri faces Guantanamo war court

An alleged al Qaida chieftain facing a death-penalty trial was brought before an Army judge at Camp Justice on Wednesday, his first ever court date nine years after CIA agents captured him in the Arabian Gulf region and spirited him off to waterboarding and other secret interrogation techniques. | 11/09/11 11:58:39 By - Carol Rosenberg

Damages sought from the UN for Haitian cholera victims

More than 5,000 victims of Haiti’s deadly cholera outbreak or relatives of those who died have submitted claims to the United Nations for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages related to the introduction of the disease into Haiti a year ago. | 11/08/11 18:42:05 By - Mimi Whitefield

U.N. watchdog confirms Iran tried to build nuclear bomb

Iran worked for five years to develop a nuclear warhead for a ballistic missile before abruptly halting the project in late 2003, and some aspects of a nuclear weapons program “may still be ongoing,” the U.N. nuclear watchdog reported Tuesday. | 11/08/11 13:53:40 By - Jonathan S. Landay

Israelis anxious over expected report on Iran nuclear program

Over the last week, Israelis have been stocking up on water, laying in canned goods and other supplies and in general preparing for a conflict that many worry may not be far off. Others have taken even more dramatic steps, renewing or securing non-Israeli passports that would allow them to flee the country for elsewhere in the event of a conflict. | 11/07/11 17:24:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

In disputed vote, Nicaragua's Ortega heads toward big win

Voting results tallied early Monday gave Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega a resounding re-election victory but international election observers reported that they had detected serious irregularities in balloting. | 11/07/11 07:27:25 By - Tim Johnson

For Latin America's wealthy elite, investment can buy U.S. residency

Every few months, Miami attorney Marisa Casablanca flies to South America to meet with wealthy individuals who want to invest $500,000 for the chance to immigrate legally to the United States. In Colombia and Peru, she gives presentations on the investor visa that’s big in China and growing in popularity in Latin America. | 11/07/11 06:48:24 By - Melissa Sanchez and Alfonso Chardy

After years of secrecy, Pentagon seeks order to let public view hearing for accused Cole bomber

Pentagon prosecutors have filed a sealed motion with the Guantánamo war court that apparently proposes allowing the general public for the first time to watch military proceedings against an accused al Qaida terrorist. | 11/06/11 16:05:45 By - Carol Rosenberg

Observers decry vote irregularities as Nicaragua's Ortega seeks new term

Observers from the European Union and the Organization of American States reported Sunday that they had detected serious irregularities in voting in what is expected to be a re-election victory for Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. | 11/06/11 22:02:00 By - Tim Johnson

G-20 summit ends with Europe bailout plan unfinished

Leaders of the world’s most-industrialized nations ended two days of turbulence here, unable to finalize a bailout plan for struggling European Union economies but inching forward on steps designed to prevent a financial crisis from spreading. | 11/05/11 01:48:18 By - Lesley Clark and Kevin G. Hall

Crucial plan to reintegrate Afghan insurgents falling flat

The bid to make peace with Afghan insurgents is failing by nearly all accounts even as the U.S.-led military coalition plans to withdraw its troops and, within three years, hand control of security nationwide to Afghan forces. | 11/05/11 01:16:00 By - Shashank Bengali

Despite Nicaragua's Constitution, Ortega headed for re-election

Nicaragua's Constitution bars re-election for politicians, but that's proved no obstacle to President Daniel Ortega, the Sandinista leader, who's widely expected to win another term in office in voting on Sunday. | 11/05/11 01:29:00 By - Tim Johnson

Alfonso Cano, leader of Colombia's FARC, killed in army operation

soldiers started bombing Cano’s rural camp at about 8:30 am. Friday and then landed troops in the area. Once on the ground, authorities knew they were on Cano’s trail because they found his glasses and wallet. | 11/05/11 09:17:22 By - Jim Wyss

Violence on new South Sudan-Sudan border catches U.N. in the middle

The new nation of South Sudan faced another armed challenge on Friday as a rebel group aligned with rival Sudan to the north threatened United Nations peacekeepers, accusing them of assisting the South Sudanese army in combat against them. | 11/04/11 17:29:00 By - Alan Boswell

Shouting 'Long live the Dalai Lama,' nun burns to death in Tibet

A Buddhist nun in China's western Sichuan province burned herself to death on Thursday, bringing to 11 the number of Tibetan clergy and former clergy who've set themselves on fire since March. | 11/04/11 15:41:00 By - Tom Lasseter

Tibetan nun dies after setting self on fire in latest protest death

A Buddhist nun in China’s western Sichuan Province burned herself to death on Thursday, bringing to 11 the number of Tibetan clergy and former clergy who’ve set themselves on fire since March. | 11/04/11 08:19:51 By - Tom Lasseter

IMF may take role in Europe crisis as G-20 leaders resume talks

George Osborne, Britian's Chancellor of the Exchequer, told BBC Radio that negotiations on boosting contributions to the IMF were ongoing, though whether individual countries would be asked to increase their contributions had not been determined. The U.S. has suggested that the IMF should use its existing resources, saying that it's been bolstered since the U.S. financial collapse. | 11/04/11 08:05:22 By - Lesley Clark

Anti-U.S. politicians on the rise as Pakistan ponders elections

With expectations rising in Pakistan of an election being called within months, anti-American politicians are in the ascendancy, leaving the current pro-U.S. government facing defeat. | 11/03/11 15:24:00 By - Saeed Shah

As Greece woes ebb, other Eurozone problems surface

While storm clouds in Greece appeared to lift Thursday with political compromise, the broader European Union still faces numerous threats as other struggling economies such as Italy's remain in danger. | 11/03/11 16:04:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Europe debt action back on course after Greeks abandon austerity vote

Leaders of the world’s most industrialized nations scrambled Thursday to rescue a European Union deal to restructure Greek debts and prevent a regional financial crisis from spreading and creating further global economic disruption. | 11/03/11 13:13:28 By - Lesley Clark and Kevin G. Hall

Obama meets with Sarkozy, Merkel as G-20 tries to solve Greek debt crisis

Warning that the "most important" task for world leaders gathered here is to find a way to resolve Europe's financial crisis, U.S. President Barack Obama huddled privately Thursday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Prime Minister Angela Merkel on his arrival at the G-20. | 11/03/11 08:10:02 By - Lesley Clark

Kenyan forces gathering for push to seize port from Somalia's Shabab

Three weeks into their offensive against Somalia's Shabab Islamist militia, Kenyan forces are preparing for what's likely to be a decisive battle for the southern Somali port of Kismayo, which could either end Shabab's dominance in the region or add fuel to Somalia's decades-long civil war. | 11/03/11 01:47:00 By - Alan Boswell and Mohammed Yusuf

Can N.C. State alum Abdurrahim el-Keib re-engineer Libya?

When Abdurrahim el-Keib was a graduate student at N.C. State University, like many a future political figure he kept late hours, toiling night after night to put his lofty thoughts into inspiring words that might incite future generations to action. El-Keib, who was elected Monday as Libya's new prime minister by a national transitional council, is an electrical engineer with expertise in power distribution systems. "Technocrat," the international media is calling him, not politician. | 11/03/11 07:21:54 By - Jay Price

Haitian coffee is making a comeback

For years, bitter poverty and plummeting coffee prices around the world have made it much more profitable for Haiti's farmers to chop trees for charcoal, and invest in cash crops, rather than coffee cherries. Now, with coffee consumption up and a shrinking supply of beans worldwide driving up prices, Haitian coffee is once again becoming a hot commodity. | 11/03/11 01:11:21 By - Jacqueline Charles

Tibetans' self-immolations lead China to crack down harder

The young man's hands began to shake, and he tugged at his fingers to keep them still. The 20-year-old ethnic Tibetan was terrified of the police finding out that he'd spoken about the Buddhist monks who've been burning themselves alive. "They're doing it because they want freedom," said the man, a livestock trader who asked that his name not be used because of safety concerns. | 11/03/11 01:32:00 By - Tom Lasseter

Political hackers are one of Latin America’s newest headaches

President Rafael Correa was about to launch into his state of the union address when the presidential website came under attack. As thousands of people were logging on to watch his speech streamed live, the site went down for more than two hours. Cyber-crime has been prevalent in Latin America since the dawn of online transactions. But many nations are struggling with a new threat: politically-motivated hackers. | 11/03/11 01:23:08 By - Jim Wyss

Roadside attacks still bedevil U.S. forces in Afghanistan

Dismounting from their armored convoy on a desolate stretch of Afghanistan's most important highway, the elite U.S. Army route-clearance team knew what to expect. They'd been struck by roadside bombs there before, and they'd been shot at there before. | 11/03/11 01:36:00 By - Shashank Bengali

Saddam's home province declares regional autonomy in Iraq

Salahuddin, home region of the late dictator Saddam Hussein, declared itself a semi-autonomous region Thursday, a move that local officials said will bring more revenue to the region north of Baghdad but which critics said will weaken the Iraqi state. | 11/03/11 01:39:00 By - Laith Hammoudi

For many Israeli 'settlers,' their suburban home is just a place to live

To real estate agents, there's little difference between the homes they sell in Gilo, this sprawling neighborhood of high-rises and spacious streets, and those they offer just a few miles away in Jerusalem's Malcha neighborhood. But Gilo isn't part of Jerusalem. Instead, it's risen up on land Palestinians believe should be part of any future Palestinian state. | 11/03/11 01:56:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Greek debt crisis overshadows G20 summit as Obama arrives

President Barack Obama and world leaders begin two days of pivotal meetings here Thursday, their gathering overshadowed by an unfolding Greek drama. | 11/02/11 19:15:00 By - Lesley Clark and Kevin G. Hall

Global financial turmoil follows call for Greek debt referendum

Global stocks skidded Tuesday after a stunning about-face by Greece on a deal agreed to last week to quell the European Union's debt crisis, as investors and analysts scrambled to understand the impact on the U.S. and global economies | 11/02/11 07:57:22 By - Kevin G. Hall

U.S cuts funding as UNESCO recognizes Palestine

UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, accepted Palestine as a full member on Monday, angering the United States, which announced that it would cut off funding to the international body. | 10/31/11 16:56:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Taliban attack targets U.S. agency in Kandahar

Taliban insurgents crashed a truck filled with explosives into a checkpoint outside a neighborhood housing international offices in Kandahar, in the latest attack targeting the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. | 10/31/11 05:31:18 By - Habib Zohori

Iraq's Maliki lashes out at Sunni province seeking autonomy

Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki Saturday lashed out at politicians

seeking regional status for the mostly Sunni Salahuddin province, charging that they were seeking a "safe house for Baathists," the banned party of the late dictator Saddam Hussein. | 10/29/11 14:08:00 By - Laith Hammoudi

13 Americans believed killed in Kabul bombing

Thirteen Americans were among at least 17 people killed here Saturday when a Taliban suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into an armored NATO shuttle bus, officials said. | 10/29/11 12:26:43 By - Habib Zohori

Twin explosions in Baghdad neighborhood kill 36, wound 78

Thirty-six people died and 78 were wounded in two explosions Thursday night in the Iraqi capital, the highest casualty toll from an insurgent assault in 10 weeks, police said. | 10/28/11 16:21:00 By - Laith Hammoudi

Europe averts financial disaster, but much remains to be done

The wee-hour compromise reached by European leaders Thursday was not as complete as it first appeared, and analysts say some of its key terms remain undefined, tenuous and could prove difficult to implement. | 10/27/11 18:27:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Jailed Queens native freed in Egypt-Israel prisoner swap

U.S.-Israeli citizen Ilan Grapel was released Thursday after four months in Egyptian prison, as Israel freed 25 Egyptians in exchange in a deal that eased tensions between the two countries. | 10/27/11 16:05:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Taliban target base U.S. uses in Afghanistan

Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests and armed with assault rifles attacked a U.S.-run civilian and military base on Thursday in the southern city of Kandahar, killing one Afghan and wounding two others, officials said. | 10/27/11 15:26:00 By - Habib Zohori

China cuts access to lawyer who fought one-child policy

When he was asked whether it was possible to drive down the country lane to the village of Dongshigu, the man in black wanted to know, "What are you up to?" Told that a passenger in the back seat worked for a newspaper, the plainclothes guard gave a guttural yell. Then he lunged through the car's half-open window and tried to drag away the journalist's Chinese translator. | 10/26/11 01:02:00 By - Tom Lasseter

Israel-Egypt prison swap will free jailed American

One week after the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners gained freedom for an Israeli soldier, Israel's cabinet agreed Tuesday to another swap, this time with Egypt to win the release of an American-Israeli law student who has been in Egyptian custody since June 12. | 10/25/11 17:38:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Afghans wonder, too, about strategic pact with India

The wide-ranging "strategic partnership" that Afghanistan signed with India this month would seem only logical: South Asia's economic heavyweight cementing its longstanding political, cultural and trade ties with the region's neediest nation. But this is Afghanistan, and nothing is that simple. | 10/25/11 15:27:00 By - Shashank Bengali

Did Obama engage as U.S.-Iraqi troop talks faltered?

Throughout the summer and autumn, as talks on a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq foundered, President Barack Obama and his point man on Iraq, Vice President Joe Biden, remained aloof from the process, logs released by the U.S. Embassy here suggest. | 10/25/11 19:49:00 By - Roy Gutman

53 bodies found in Libya raise more questions about fighters

Fifty-three bodies discovered over the weekend were those of loyalists of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi who appeared to have been executed after capture, the latest in a string of extrajudicial attacks attributed to revolutionary fighters from the western city of Misrata, a human rights group said Monday. | 10/24/11 16:42:00 By - Hannah Allam

Video: Chinese security make it a dangerous trip to Dongshigu

Chinese security prevent a McClatchy reporter from reaching Dongshigu where activist Chen Guangcheng has been held under house arrest. | 10/24/11 16:17:13 By - Tom Lasseter

GOP's Sen. Graham works to protect foreign aid

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who's taken on tough tasks from immigration reform to climate change, faces another one as he calls for spending billions of dollars overseas on unpopular foreign aid programs that he insists are vital to U.S. national security. | 10/24/11 15:34:00 By - James Rosen

Afghans find little to praise in new U.S.-led offensive

As U.S.-led coalition forces intensify their battle against insurgents in rugged eastern Afghanistan, many residents there remain skeptical of the chances for military success and worry about the fallout from increased fighting. | 10/24/11 14:17:00 By - Habib Zohori and Shashank Bengali

The cocaine road - from Colombia to Columbus, Georgia

It’s a long way from Colombia to Columbus, Georgia. But cocaine finds a way, from the farmer’s field to the dealer’s corner. And between the farmer trying to feed his family and the crackhead feeding his addiction, a lot of people make a lot of money. | 10/24/11 14:24:59 By -

Brazil seeks investors to improve airports before World Cup

When Brazil hosts the 2014 World Cup, it will face the huge challenge of ferrying millions of soccer fans, players and officials around a continent-sized country for 64 matches that will be played in 12 cities. Right now many of its airports are barely up to the task of handling rapidly growing domestic air traffic, but Brazil has begun a process of inviting in private investors and granting concessions to renovate and manage airports across the country. | 10/24/11 06:47:42 By - Mimi Whitefield

Libyan authorities unsure how to handle Gadhafi's corpse

Days after the death of Moammar Gadhafi, his corpse has become the subject of a macabre dispute as Libyan interim authorities squabble over where and how to bury him. | 10/22/11 15:51:00 By - Hannah Allam

U.S. departure will leave Iraq on its own in a sea of conflict

The failure of the Obama administration to reach an agreement on a continued U.S. troop presence in Iraq will increase pressure from all directions on the government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, testing the resiliency of this country's fragile national institutions and a political class that had long relied on a U.S. safety net. | 10/21/11 19:19:00 By - Roy Gutman

Obama: All U.S. troops will leave Iraq by year's end. The war is over.

The United States will withdraw all of its troops from Iraq by the end of this year, officially ending the long, divisive war that began in March 2003, President Barack Obama announced Friday. | 10/21/11 18:54:00 By - Lesley Clark and Roy Gutman

U.S.-Pakistan talks won't lead to military action against Haqqani

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that she'd won agreement from Pakistan to take some sort of action against the Haqqani insurgent network, but she suggested the action would not be military in nature, leaving unclear what her high-powered delegation accomplished during its two-day visit here. | 10/21/11 17:39:00 By - Saeed Shah

Global economic fate hinges on European finance talks

The fate of the global economy, European unity — and the 401(k) savings of ordinary Americans — all hang in the balance as Europe's leaders meet over the weekend to try to resolve a burgeoning debt crisis that threatens to spread globally. | 10/21/11 17:21:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Without credit card donations, WikiLeaks facing funding crisis

WikiLeaks, the whistleblower website that has been at the center of some of the world's most controversial news for the past 18 months, is facing dire economic times, largely, the website says, because Visa, MasterCard and PayPal have refused for more than 10 months to process donations made on its behalf. | 10/21/11 16:54:00 By - Mark Seibel

Women still face gender gap in Latin American, Caribbean politics

With President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s win in Sunday’s Argentine’s election all but assured and a woman leading the largest country in Latin America, it might appear that the political glass ceiling in the hemisphere has finally been cracked. But from Buenos Aires to Washington, D.C., women still have a long way to go to achieve parity in politics. | 10/21/11 07:12:56 By - Mimi Whitefield

Colombia claims top FARC leader is dead

Colombia’s armed forces killed one of the FARC’s top leaders who was responsible for the guerrilla organization’s Pacific drug trafficking operations and was the group’s primary contact with Mexican cartels, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón said Thursday. | 10/21/11 07:06:20 By - Jim Wyss

Iraq condemns PKK's raids into Turkey but won't move against group

Iraq's central government and Kurdish regional authorities on Thursday condemned Kurdish PKK militants for their latest lethal attacks on Turkish security forces. But they left it to Turkey to crack down on the movement, which operates out of northern Iraq. | 10/20/11 19:26:00 By - Roy Gutman

Moammar Gadhafi's dead. Now what for Libya?

With the death Thursday of Moammar Gadahfi, Libya's de facto leaders now face the challenge of preserving the fragile unity they enjoyed while the deposed dictator was on the run as they begin transforming their war-battered nation into a democracy after 42 years of tyrannical one-man rule. | 10/20/11 19:17:00 By - Jonathan S. Landay

Gadhafi was captured alive; how he died is in dispute

Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi asked his captors twice, "What do you want from me?" as they swarmed around him Thursday, according to video footage shot at the scene by a Libyan journalist. By early afternoon, he was dead, but how he died remained in dispute. | 10/20/11 18:57:00 By - Osama al Fitory and Hannah Allam

Clinton in Afghanistan warns Pakistan to act against Haqqani

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday delivered the sharpest U.S. warning yet to Pakistani leaders: Crack down on the Afghan insurgents based on your soil or pay "a very big price." | 10/20/11 15:19:00 By - Shashank Bengali

Video shows Gadhafi was alive when captured in Sirte

Fugitive Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi died Thursday from wounds sustained during capture near his hometown of Sirte, according to reports that were confirmed by Libyan transitional authorities and independent journalists. Amateur video broadcast on TV channels showed Gadhafi's purported corpse. Another showed him seemingly alive, but wounded. | 10/20/11 08:27:22 By - Mohamed Albuaishi and Hannah Allam

Clinton, Petraeus likely to press Pakistan on Haqqani support

In a rare display of U.S. muscle, the United States' top diplomat, its senior-most military officer and its spy chief arrive here Thursday for a tense two-day visit that's likely to focus on U.S. accusations of Pakistani support for an Afghan insurgent group that the U.S. blames for thousands of deaths inside Afghanistan. | 10/20/11 01:32:00 By - Saeed Shah and Jonathan S. Landay

Shalit's condition leaves Israel second-guessing delay in his release

One day after Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit returned home after five years in captivity in the Gaza Strip, a deep sense of dissatisfaction settled over Israel Wednesday as questioning began of why it took so long for negotiators to win his release. | 10/20/11 01:31:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Obama sends troops to Africa to track Lord's Resistance Army leader

The United States has dispatched a small group of U.S. troops to central Africa to help hunt down the elusive leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, a cultlike force that's been terrorizing Uganda and other nations, President Barack Obama told Congress in a letter Friday. | 10/20/11 01:36:00 By - Steven Thomma

Haiti turns to vaccinations a year after cholera struck

In a dramatic policy shift, Haiti has agreed to support a massive vaccination program to slow a cholera outbreak that has claimed more than 6,000 lives and sickened almost a half-million people. | 10/20/11 07:15:35 By - Jacqueline Charles

U.S. admits limits in monitoring Cuba's offshore oil drilling

As exploratory oil drilling is set to begin in December off the coast of Cuba, the U.S. government acknowledged Tuesday that because of chilly diplomatic relations it could have a limited ability to control the response to an oil spill there, let alone one the magnitude of last year's Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. | 10/20/11 01:40:00 By - Erika Bolstad

Colombia’s spy agency suspected in murder plot

Shortly after a deadly car bomb failed to kill Colombian Sen. Germán Vargas Lleras in 2005, the country’s spy agency blamed the attack on leftist guerrillas and closed the case. | 10/20/11 06:57:17 By - Jim Wyss

Mexico captures alleged Zetas leader tied to Monterrey casino blaze

In a major blow to the vicious crime group known as Los Zetas, the Mexican army said Thursday that it had captured the group's No. 3 leader, who the army said gave the order to firebomb a crowded casino this summer in Monterrey, Mexico. Fifty-two people died in the resulting blaze. | 10/20/11 01:22:54 By - Tim Johnson

Understanding all ‘Things Chinese’

For many people, their only interaction with China is at a Chinese restaurant, but there is so much more to a culture dating back over the two millennia. Let the excellent “Things Chinese” introduce you to it. | 10/20/11 01:26:17 By - Tish Wells

In Rafah, tunnels from Gaza just a way to do business

In Egypt, Salah Eddin is unquestionably one of the largest clandestine cargo ports in the world, though no one keeps track of what goods pass through it. Their value is no doubt in the tens of millions of dollars, if not more, all of it illegal. | 10/20/11 01:07:00 By - Mohannad Sabry

In Kabul, Clinton urges Pakistan to step up fight against militants

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday delivered the sharpest U.S. warning yet to Pakistani leaders: Crack down on the Afghan insurgents based on your soil or pay "a very big price." | 10/20/11 06:18:20 By - Shashank Bengali

Turkish planes, troops attack Kurdish rebels inside Iraq

Turkish combat planes and ground troops crossed into northern Iraq Wednesday to hunt down Kurdish guerrillas who had killed 29 members of Turkey's security forces and five civilians in a series of raids over the last two days. | 10/19/11 18:56:00 By - Roy Gutman and Ipek Yezdani

Turkey invades Iraq after Kurdish rebels kill 26 Turkish soldiers

BAGHDAD — Turkey sent troops and fighter jets into Iraq Wednesday in "hot pursuit" of Kurdish rebels who killed more than 25 Turkish soldiers in multiple attacks in the southern Turkish province of Hakkari. It was the first cross-border violence in five years between Turkish troops and Kurdish guerrillas who Turkey says shelter in northern Iraq. | 10/19/11 13:08:17 By - Sahar Issa and Ipek Yezdani

Israeli soldier Shalit probably spent years under ground, doctors say

After five years in Palestinian custody, Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit came home Tuesday to adoring throngs and questions about his long years of captivity. Doctors said he was malnourished and that he probably had spent much of the last five years in solitary confinement below ground. | 10/18/11 19:07:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Pakistan inaugurates huge dam project, hoping U.S. will help with funds

Pakistan on Tuesday inaugurated construction of a giant dam that would help plug its crippling electricity shortfall, but without a hoped-for infusion of cash for the project from the United States and other international funders. | 10/18/11 17:35:00 By - Saeed Shah

U.S. steps up assault on Haqqani stronghold in Afghanistan

Explosions and gunfire erupted in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan Tuesday as U.S.-led international forces and Afghan soldiers began what seemed likely to become a new, coordinated offensive against insurgents whom American officials blame for a series of recent major terrorist attacks in Kabul. | 10/18/11 17:05:00 By - Shashank Bengali and Habib Zohori

Kenyan troops press assault on Somali group linked to al Qaida

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan troops and tanks pushed 50 miles into Somalia on Monday and Kenyan aircraft bombed suspected terrorist positions in the first stage of a military campaign intended to destroy the Islamist insurgent group al Shabab. | 10/17/11 18:56:00 By - Alan Boswell and Mohammed Yusuf

Kenyan troops press assault on Somalia al Qaida group

Kenyan troops and tanks pushed 50 miles into Somalia on Monday and Kenyan aircraft bombed suspected terrorist positions in the first stage of a military campaign intended to destroy the Islamist insurgent group al Shabab. | 10/17/11 19:08:01 By - Alan Boswell and Mohammed Yusuf

For Israel's Shalit, freedom will start a long road to recovery

Dr. Mickey Zeifa knows better than most what captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will face when he is released Tuesday. While much of Israel prepared to celebrate Shalit’s return in a prisoner exchange that will see 477 jailed Palestinians also go free Tuesday, Zeifa prepared to welcome a new member to his support group — Awake at Night — whose members are Israeli soldiers who were captured or held hostage in the line of duty. | 10/17/11 18:35:18 By - Sheera Frenkel

Violence leaves Egypt's Christians fearful, defiant

Families joined hands in prayer Sunday for an evening of healing at a downtown Cairo church after a bloody week that left many Coptic Christians questioning their place in the new Egypt. | 10/16/11 17:29:00 By - Hannah Allam

Doubts grow in Israel over prisoner swap

Doubts over Israel's handling of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit continued to grow Sunday, as senior intelligence officers suggested that Israel could have retrieved Shalit sooner. | 10/16/11 15:47:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Afghan violence falling sharply, NATO says

Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan from July through September fell by 26 percent from the previous summer, a senior NATO official said Saturday, reasserting the U.S.-led coalition's claims that violence is decreasing a decade into the Afghan war. | 10/15/11 14:08:00 By - Shashank Bengali

Rabin memorial defaced to protest Israel-Hamas prisoner swap

An Israeli man who lost five family members in the 2001 suicide bombing of a Jerusalem pizza restaurant on Friday defaced the memorial to Israel's assassinated Prime Minster Yitzhak Rabin as tension continued to mount here over next week's Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange. | 10/14/11 16:48:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Venezuela's Chávez gives $1.5 billion to Cuba and ALBA

Venezuela spent more than $1.5 billion in three years to finance dozens of projects in Cuba and other allied countries, including airport expansions in Cuba and replacing light bulbs in Bolivia, although the oil producer has amassed massive debt in the last few years to cover its own commitments, according to a Venezuelan government document. | 10/14/11 07:00:57 By - Antonio Maria Delgado

Colombian unions hope trade deal doesn’t mask continued violence

For the last half decade, Colombia’s union leaders have enjoyed the international spotlight — as a pending free trade agreement with the United States brought the country’s dismal labor record into sharp focus. | 10/13/11 19:20:26 By - Jim Wyss

Blasts in Baghdad's Sadr City kill at least 18, wound 40

Baghdad was shaken Thursday for the second day in a row by a series of bomb blasts that claimed at least 18 lives and left 40 people wounded. | 10/13/11 18:32:00 By - Laith Hammoudi

Israeli victims of violence feel mixed emotions on prisoner swap

While a celebratory atmosphere has settled over much of Israel in anticipation of the release next week of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit after more than five years of captivity, for some families, the upcoming prisoner exchange is a bitter reminder of all they've lost. | 10/13/11 17:04:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Mexico seen as unlikely launching pad for Iranian plot

The alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States has cast Mexico into the news as a potential staging area for a terrorist operation. But experts say the likelihood of such a plot going undetected in Mexico by U.S. authorities is low and that Mexico's drug cartels would be unlikely to become involved. | 10/13/11 01:58:00 By - Tim Johnson

Bitter enemies Hamas, Israel both win in prisoner swap

A prisoner swap that will exchange one hostage Israeli soldier for 1,027 jailed Palestinians was being hailed Wednesday as a victory for both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a supreme irony in a world where Israel and Hamas have vowed to destroy each other. | 10/13/11 01:00:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

With Gadhafi on the run, focus turns to Sahara's Tuareg

Stragglers on the march to modernity, swords at their sides, the nomadic Tuareg of West Africa, long a footnote in world affairs, may be about to take a more central role in counter-terrorism policy, thanks to the ouster of Libya's former leader Moammar Gadhafi. | 10/13/11 01:38:00 By - Alan Boswell

Number of Cuban migrants has surged in the past year

U.S. Coast Guard interdictions at sea rose from 422 to 1,000, while landings on U.S. shores climbed from 409 to almost 700. Meanwhile, arrivals at U.S. border posts — almost all from Mexico — barely changed from 6,219 to 6,300. | 10/13/11 01:39:32 By - Alfonso Chardy and Juan O. Tamayo

Paramilitaries may have entered Mexico's drug wars

The gruesome discovery of 32 bodies scattered in houses in the port city of Veracruz this week is the latest sign that Mexico's drug-fueled violence is entering a new phase in which murky paramilitary-style squads are carrying out mass exterminations. | 10/13/11 01:53:00 By - Tim Johnson

Iraq says it's asked for 5,000 U.S. trainers, awaits reply

Iraq has requested that more than 5,000 U.S. military trainers stay on past the formal U.S. withdrawal date of Dec. 31, and it's awaiting a "yes or no" from the United States, according to a statement that President Jalal Talabani issued late Monday. | 10/13/11 01:19:00 By - Sahar Issa

Yemeni Nobel winner: Democracy is best antidote to extremism

At first glance, Tawakkol Karman seems an improbable activist. Once she opens her mouth, however, doubts about this young mother of three are quickly silenced. Acerbically witty in private and effortlessly charismatic in front of an audience, Karman has become the unlikely face of anti-government demonstrations that have swept deeply conservative Yemen since January. | 10/13/11 01:02:00 By - Adam Baron

Tunisia's Islamists back moderate form of Sharia law

Tunisia's main Islamist party, eyeing gains in upcoming elections, supports a moderate form of Sharia law that would combine "democracy, which is a Western product, with Islam, which is our own heritage," the party's leader told McClatchy. | 10/13/11 01:07:00 By - Ipek Yezdani

If you think Iraq's secure, read this about Wednesday's violence

A spate of attacks including two parked car bombs and two suicide car bombs driven by suicide bombers targeted police in different districts of Baghdad, Wednesday, killing at least 22 people and wounding around 74 others, security officials said. | 10/13/11 02:27:35 By - Sahar Issa

WikiLeaks shakes security of Iraq's tiny Jewish community

An Anglican priest in Baghdad says he's working with the U.S. Embassy to persuade the handful of Jews who still live in Baghdad to leave because their names have appeared in cables published last month by WikiLeaks. | 10/13/11 02:50:00 By - Roy Gutman

New trade deals bring challenges, opportunities for Latin American farmers

For the past five years, Colombia has been agitating for the United States to ratify a free-trade agreement. On Wednesday, the U.S. Congress did just that, easily approving trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. But some in this South American nation of 45 million wonder if they are ready for what the finance minister has called a "new era" in commerce. | 10/13/11 07:19:45 By - Jim Wyss

Saudis don't name Iran in condemnation of alleged murder plot

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday denounced an alleged assassination plot against its ambassador to Washington as "outrageous and heinous" but said it was still trying to determine who was behind it. | 10/13/11 01:49:00 By - Roy Gutman

Libyan rebels abuse, torture prisoners, rights group says

Libyan revolutionary forces are holding more than 2,500 detainees in makeshift prisons where they're subjected to beatings and languish without charges, the human rights advocacy group Amnesty International said Wednesday. | 10/13/11 01:42:00 By - Hannah Allam

U.N. says Afghanistan routinely tortures war suspects

The United Nations on Monday said that suspected Taliban detainees are routinely beaten and tortured in detention centers run by Afghanistan's police and spy agency. | 10/13/11 01:36:00 By - Habib Zohori

Washington State apples, potatoes get boost from trade deals

Ending a long stalemate, Congress was expected to pass three new trade agreements Wednesday evening, signing off on deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama in an attempt to increase U.S. exports and create more jobs. | 10/12/11 18:35:00 By - Rob Hotakainen

Iran accused in alleged plot to kill Saudi ambassador in Washington

For the first time in more than a generation, a foreign power was accused Tuesday of plotting a political assassination in the United States capital, an allegation that stunned analysts who said it would seem to be an incredibly incautious move and a mark of desperation, if proved true. | 10/11/11 20:07:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Mexico's Lopez Obrador: U.S. must move relations past drug war

Speaking just blocks from the White House, a fiery Mexican populist who narrowly lost his country's presidential election five years ago called Tuesday for a reboot of U.S.-Mexican relations, criticizing the Obama administration as failing to help immigrants and militarizing a historically strained bilateral relationship. | 10/11/11 18:55:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

U.S. says Iran plot to kill Saudi ambassador hatched in Mexico

For the first time in more than a generation, a foreign power was accused Tuesday of plotting a political assassination in the United States capital, an allegation that stunned analysts who said it would seem to be an incredibly brazen move and a mark of desperation, if proved true. | 10/11/11 18:42:35 By - Kevin G. Hall

Israel, Hamas agree to huge prisoner exchange

Israeli and the Palestinian group Hamas agreed Tuesday to a vast prisoner exchange that would free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in return for the largest release ever of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. | 10/11/11 18:29:00 By - Sheera Frenkel

Tally of Coptic protest violence in Cairo: 22 dead, 327 injured

At Cairo's Coptic Hospital, 22 bodies lay in the morgue early Monday, silenced witnesses to what everyone agrees was the worst outbreak of violence to wrack this tense city since President Hosni Mubarak was forced from power eight months ago. | 10/10/11 19:26:00 By - Mohannad Sabry

At least 19 dead in Egypt church protests

A march by Coptic Christians turned deadly when protesters clashed with government forces in central Cairo, leaving at least 19 people dead and more than 200 injured in one of the bloodiest days in Egypt since the fall of Hosni Mubarak. | 10/09/11 19:33:31 By - Mohannad Sabry

Banned Islamists rally in full view in Pakistan's capital

A large crowd of Islamic militants rallied this week in the heart of Islamabad to voice support for Pakistan's army and to condemn the United States in another sign of a growing tide of extremism sweeping the country. | 10/07/11 16:39:00 By - Saeed Shah

Nobel Peace Prize goes to 3 women activists, including Liberia's Sirleaf

Friday's award of the Nobel Peace Prize to three women who'd undertaken nonviolent campaigns for peace and women's rights in war zones sent a powerful message to the developing world that women must not be left behind by movements that are pushing for democratic reforms. | 10/07/11 06:56:04 By - Hannah Allam, Shashank Bengali and Adam Baron

Haiti President Martelly launches housing initiative

The first morning Alexandra Simin awoke in the concrete house, the young mother of two cried. Then she laughed uncontrollably. “There was a time I thought I would never get out of there,” she said. “All I ever had while in there were sleepless nights.” | 10/07/11 06:55:17 By - Jacqueline Charles

Obama warns Pakistan over support for Afghan insurgents

President Barack Obama cautioned Pakistan on Thursday that it's jeopardizing long-term relations with the United States — including billions of dollars in military and civilian aid — by maintaining ties with insurgent groups that are fighting U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. | 10/06/11 18:54:00 By - Jonathan S. Landay

Six weeks after Gadhafi's fall, Libya's rebels can't get their story straight

Libya's interim rulers were busy this week: They cheered the imminent fall of Moammar Gadhafi's hometown, ordered trigger-happy revolutionary fighters out of the capital, formed a new caretaker Cabinet and announced the discovery of 900 corpses in two mass graves. Only problem was, all those moves turned out to be premature, exaggerated or patently false. | 10/06/11 18:26:00 By - Hannah Allam

Pakistan panel calls doctor's help finding bin Laden 'treason'

A Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA track Osama bin Laden before U.S. special forces killed the terrorist leader should be charged with treason, the official Pakistani inquiry into bin Laden's presence in the country recommended Thursday. | 10/06/11 17:13:00 By - Saeed Shah

'End is in sight' for Libya mission, NATO says

NATO defense ministers said Thursday that the alliance would end its six-month mission in Libya once deposed leader Moammar Gadhafi can no longer mount attacks against civilians — a point that they suggested was imminent even though Gadhafi has evaded capture. | 10/06/11 16:47:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef

10 years into Afghan war, Pakistan gripped by crises

Ten years into the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, neighboring Pakistan, despite receiving billions of dollars in U.S. military and financial support, continues to be gripped by an economic crisis and persistent terrorist attacks. | 10/06/11 15:25:00 By - Adeel Raza and Tariq Naqash

After 100 years, corruption still a major problem in China

As the 100th anniversary of the revolt that ended 2,000 years of imperial rule in China passes next week, Beijing's central leadership increasingly finds itself trying to clamp down on local officials who run their turf like mafia dons. | 10/06/11 14:30:00 By - Tom Lasseter

Iraqi stand on immunity may end talk of U.S. military staying on

The possibility that some U.S. troops would remain in Iraq past the current Dec. 31 withdrawal date appeared all but doomed Wednesday as Iraqi political leaders ruled out any special legal protections for military trainers who stay behind. | 10/06/11 01:12:00 By - Roy Gutman

Libyan civilian toll from NATO bombings still unknown

When late-night NATO airstrikes rained down on this hardscrabble farming village, Majar, then-leader Moammar Gadhafi's propaganda machine kicked into overdrive. | 10/06/11 01:03:00 By - Hannah Allam