Iraq will be unable to hold a national election in January as planned, a poll official said on Tuesday, heaping more uncertainty on a vote meant to cement democracy and pave the way for a partial U.S. troop withdrawal.
A powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.8 struck northeast of the South Pacific island nation of Tonga on Tuesday, the United States Geological Survey said, but a destructive tsunami was not expected.
The Philippines placed two southern provinces and a city under emergency rule on Tuesday after gunmen killed 46 people in a brutal election-related massacre that has shocked the country.
Support within the administration has grown for continuing a counterinsurgency strategy with a greater focus on protecting major Afghan population centers along with agricultural areas and transportation routes.
President Barack Obama will announce his decision on whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan within days after he held a final strategy session with top aides, the White House said on Tuesday.
The world's first permanent war crimes court opens its second trial on Tuesday when two Congolese warlords face charges they ordered subordinates to attack civilians, rape women and enlist child soldiers.
Khartoum's U.N. envoy, rejecting a bleak U.N. assessment of the situation in Sudan's conflict-torn western Darfur region, said on Monday it was time for international peacekeepers to prepare to leave.
President Barack Obama should look abroad for ways to boost jobs at home, the biggest U.S. business lobby group said on Monday, urging the administration to advance three pending free trade agreements.
U.S. negotiators working to conclude a new strategic arms treaty with Russia are discussing ways to continue nuclear weapons monitoring until the new accord can be ratified, a State Department spokesman said on Monday.
President Barack Obama assured Americans on Monday that boosting jobs was a top priority, but gave no specifics about how to meet this goal that some economists say warrants more government spending.
Republican South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, a conservative seen as a presidential contender before a sex scandal wrecked his reputation, faces 37 possible ethics violations, the state ethics commission said on Monday.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday completing a 2005 U.S.-India nuclear cooperation deal would boost investment opportunities in his country, a hopeful sign for U.S. companies eyeing India's potential $150 billion market in power plants.
Israel has softened its terms for a prisoner swap with Hamas and the two are nearing a deal to exchange hundreds of jailed Palestinians for an Israeli soldier held in the Gaza Strip, officials said on Monday.
The White House said on Monday it was reviewing options to spur economic activity and job creation, but stressed any action would be taken in the context of the fiscal challenges facing the country.
President Barack Obama on Monday added to his schedule an evening session with top advisers on Afghanistan as he closes in on a decision on whether to send thousands more U.S. troops.
President Barack Obama's U.S. healthcare overhaul plan has cleared an important Senate hurdle but lawmakers warned on Sunday of challenges ahead in winning support for passage, even among Obama's own Democrats.
Gunmen abducted and killed at least 21 people in the southern Philippines Monday, apparently to prevent a woman filing her husband's nomination to run for provincial governor in elections next year, the military said.
Iraq's fractious parliament on Monday approved an amended version of a law needed to hold a general election next year, but sidestepped a veto by Sunni Arab Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi, lawmakers said.
Pakistani security forces backed by tanks and artillery attacked Taliban positions in the northwest of the country, killing 22 militants, a senior police official on Monday.
The Iraqi parliament on Sunday failed to resolve an impasse threatening to delay the country's election in January, which could affect the U.S. military's plans for a partial pullout next year.
HEGANG, China (Reuters) - Relatives of victims of a gas blast at a northeast Chinese coal mine scuffled with police and demanded answers from the owners on Monday as state media put the toll from the latest in a series of mine disasters at 104.The protest came a day after another 11 miners were killed in a blast at a pit in the southern province of Hunan, Xinhua said. China's stability-obsessed government is nervous about any public protests, and will be keen to keep discontent under control...
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, aware his chances of re-election may hinge on the economy emerging from recession, called on Monday for a global growth strategy to tackle trade and currency imbalances.
The global economy is in a holding pattern and vulnerable to more upheaval, the head of the IMF said on Monday, adding a lasting recovery will depend on policymakers taking the proper steps in the coming months.
A major draft EU law on market infrastructure will be tabled next July to make share and derivatives trading less risky for investors and the broader financial system from late 2012, industry sources said on Monday.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate cleared the first procedural hurdle for sweeping healthcare reform on Saturday by voting to open debate on the historic legislation.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate cleared the first procedural hurdle for sweeping healthcare reform on Saturday by voting to open debate on the historic legislation.
President Barack Obama's U.S. healthcare overhaul plan has cleared an important Senate hurdle but lawmakers warned on Sunday of challenges ahead in winning support for passage, even among Obama's own Democrats.
Herman Van Rompuy, the European Union's new president, may not be very well known around the world but he's already winning fans in Japan -- as a poet rather than a politician.
Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said Sunday the reform movement would not be cowed by the hardline government's harsh methods as riot police prevented a demonstration by moderates taking place.
Israel's president said Sunday expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank was a marginal issue blocking resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.
