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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, meets with Iraq's Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, right, aided by a translator, center, in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew into Baghdad on Thursday for discussions with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi officials, hoping to iron out remaining differences in a U.S.-Iraq security deal that envisions the withdrawal of American troops. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, Pool)

Rice says US-Iraq coming together on timetables

1 hour, 18 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday that U.S. and Iraqi officials agree that timetables should be set for a U.S. troop withdrawal, but conceded that nailing down a broader pact on future relations is difficult.

  • Pakistani lawyers chant slogan during a rally demanding to restore the deposed judges, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008 in Lahore, Pakistan. A key party in Pakistan's ruling coalition threatened to quit unless judges fired by former President Pervez Musharraf were quickly reinstated — dashing hopes his departure would end the nation's turmoil. (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary)
    Suicide bombing at Pakistan arms complex kills 59 1 hour, 22 minutes ago

    WAH, Pakistan - Twin Taliban suicide bombings at Pakistan's largest weapons complex killed at least 59 people Thursday, heightening the turmoil following Pervez Musharraf's ouster as president.

  • Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right listens to his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad , during a meeting in the presidential residence at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/ RIA Novosti, Vladimir Rodionov, Presidential Press Service )
    Russia blocks Georgia's main port city Thu Aug 21, 7:07 AM ET

    POTI, Georgia - Russian forces blocked the only land entrance to Georgia's main port city on Thursday, a day before Russia promised to complete a troop pullout from its ex-Soviet neighbor.

  • Coffins of French soldiers killed in Afghanistan are carried during a funeral ceremony at Les Invalides, in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008. 10 French soldiers were killed and 21 injured in a fierce Taliban ambush and firefight in mountains about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Kabul on Monday. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)
    30 militants die in Afghan battle near ambush site 7 minutes ago

    KABUL, Afghanistan - The U.S.-led coalition said Thursday it had killed more than 30 insurgents in a battle in eastern Afghanistan, fighters an Afghan governor said were responsible for an attack that killed 10 French troops this week. Officials announced the deaths of six NATO soldiers in two attacks.

  • Relatives of victims of the Barajas airport crash prepare to leave for Madrid's IFEMA fairgrounds where the remains of the dead are being kept, August 21, 2008. A Spanish jet heading for the Canary Islands crashed on takeoff and burst into flames at Madrid airport on Wednesday, killing 153 of the people on board, the government said. REUTERS/Susana Vera (SPAIN)
    25 bodies identified from plane crash in Spain 51 minutes ago

    MADRID, Spain - The jetliner that crashed in Madrid abandoned a first takeoff attempt because of an air gauge that showed overheating, but experts said it was unlikely the gauge was a factor in the accident that killed 153 people.

  • Plain clothed security officers detain Associated Press photographer Ng Han Guan, center, after pro-Tibet protesters held a demonstration opposite the National Stadium, where Olympic athletics competition had just finished, early Thursday July 21, 2008 in Beijing. Swarms of plainclothes police took away four foreign activists protesting Chinese rule over Tibet - the latest in a series of such demonstrations during the Olympics. Ng, and one other AP photographer were roughed up by the security officers, forced into cars and taken to a nearby building where they questioned before being released. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
    Beijing police grab foreign and Chinese activists 39 minutes ago

    BEIJING - Police descended on a group of foreign pro-Tibet activists and some disgruntled business owners from Hong Kong on Thursday, taking both groups away minutes after they displayed protest signs in central Beijing.

  • Gaza travellers hit by passport shortage Thu Aug 21, 8:09 AM ET

    GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gaza's 1.4 million Palestinians, already largely confined to their narrow strip of land by Israeli and Egyptian border closures, face a new travel restriction: The Hamas administration has run out of passports.

  • Indian activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Lenist), CPI (ML) take part in a demonstration against the Indo-US nuclear deal, in New Delhi in July 2008. The United States is set to push the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group to agree on a landmark nuclear deal with India despite objections at home and reservation among some nations.(AFP/File/Manan Vatsyayana)
    Nuclear exporters to discuss India trade ban Thu Aug 21, 7:07 AM ET

    VIENNA, Austria - A group of nations that export nuclear material was meeting Thursday to discuss whether to grant India access to nuclear fuel and technology, a decision crucial to finalizing a landmark U.S.-India deal lifting a ban on such sales.

  • Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, right, speaks as Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni listens during a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008. Israel has approved the release of about 200 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to the Palestinian government. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Cabinet overwhelmingly passed the proposal at a meeting Sunday. (AP Photo/ Jim Hollander, Pool)
    Top Israeli candidate wants unity government Thu Aug 21, 7:09 AM ET

    JERUSALEM - The politician with perhaps the best chance to replace Israel's embattled prime minister on Thursday called for a unity government to pursue the creation of a Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel.

  • Pakistani soldiers gather around the body of a suspected suicide bomber in Wah. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside Pakistan's main army munitions factory, killing 64 workers in the deadliest attack on a military installation in the country's history.(AFP/Asif Hassan)
    Taliban claim Pakistan suicide blasts that kill 46 Thu Aug 21, 7:51 AM ET

    WAH, Pakistan - A spokesman for Pakistani Taliban groups has claimed responsibility for the two suicide bombings at a government arms factory near the capital.

  • Relatives of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, weep in front of the coffins during a funeral ceremony at Les Invalides, in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008. 10 French soldiers were killed and 21 injured in a fierce Taliban ambush and firefight in mountains about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Kabul on Monday. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)
    US coalition: 30 militants die in Afghan battle Thu Aug 21, 1:22 AM ET

    KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S.-led coalition troops battled a group of militants in eastern Afghanistan, killing over 30 insurgents, while three NATO soldiers were killed in a roadside blast elsewhere, officials said Thursday.

  • Mexico outraged over corrupt police, kidnappings Thu Aug 21, 3:07 AM ET

    MEXICO CITY - After kidnappers in police uniforms set up a fake checkpoint to snatch 14-year-old Fernando Marti off a Mexico City street, his businessman father paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom, and waited for his son's safe return.

  • Map shows flood-hit Uttar Pradesh, India, where at least 74 people were killed; 1c x 2 5/8 inches; 46.5 mm x 66.7 mm
    At least 74 killed in flooding in India Thu Aug 21, 3:21 AM ET

    LUCKNOW, India - Monsoon rains pummeled northern India, bringing dozens of buildings crashing down and killing 74 people, police said Thursday.

  • Pirates seize Japanese, Iranian ships off Somalia Thu Aug 21, 5:28 AM ET

    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Armed pirates hijacked a Japanese-operated tanker and an Iranian ship off Somalia's coast Thursday, the latest in a series of attacks that have sent jitters among seafarers in an area known for its lawlessness.

  • US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski (R) exchange documents after signing a deal on basing an American missile shield in Poland, in Warsaw. The United States has ruled out the use of US military force in Georgia, but the Pentagon will almost certainly be looking for other chess pieces to move to check a more aggressive Russia, analysts say.(AFP/Janek Skarzynski)
    US, Poland OK missile defense base, riling Moscow Wed Aug 20, 6:09 PM ET

    WARSAW, Poland - The United States and Poland signed a deal Wednesday to place a U.S. missile defense base just 115 miles from Russia — a move followed swiftly by a new warning from Moscow of a possible military response.

  • Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili visits a military unit in Tbilisi. NATO-Russia relations plunged to their lowest point in years Tuesday over the conflict in Georgia and Russia's failure to withdraw from the former Soviet republic.(AFP/Pool/Irakli Gedenidze)
    Norway: Russia to cut all military ties with NATO Thu Aug 21, 4:34 AM ET

    OSLO, Norway - Russia has informed Norway that it plans to suspend all military ties with NATO, Norway's Defense Ministry said Wednesday, a day after the military alliance urged Moscow to withdraw its forces from Georgia.

  • Police investigates at a site of a bomb attack that targetted a bus parked near the Sophie hotel, in the city centre in Bouira. The United States on Wednesday condemned terrorist attacks in Algeria, saying they were the work of "criminals and thugs" and vowing to support counter-terrorism efforts.(AFP)
    Twin car bombings hit Algerian hotel, barracks Wed Aug 20, 5:24 PM ET

    ALGIERS, Algeria - Twin car bombs rocked a hotel and military headquarters in Algeria, killing 12 people Wednesday, a day after a suicide bombing nearby killed 43. The new bombings were the sixth major terrorist action this month in the North African nation.

  • Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Tbilisi, late Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008. Saakashvili told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he does not believe Russia will fulfill its promise to withdraw from most of the country in the coming days. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
    Saakashvili doubts Russians will withdraw Wed Aug 20, 8:54 PM ET

    TBILISI, Georgia - Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Wednesday that he does not believe Russia will soon withdraw from most of the country, suggesting there was little Georgians could do but offer "passive resistance."

  • Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (R) meets visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Baghdad August 21, 2008. (Handout/Iraqi Government/Reuters)
    Iraq's Sunni politicians angry over arrests Wed Aug 20, 6:12 PM ET

    BAGHDAD - Top Sunni politicians on Wednesday accused Iraq's Shiite-dominated security forces of carrying out political arrests, and warned that this could push Iraq into another round of sectarian fighting.

  • Pope Benedict XVI greets the crowd during his weekly general audience in the Castel Gandolfo summer residence, near Rome, Wednesday Aug. 20, 2008. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
    Beijing bishop urges pope to visit China Wed Aug 20, 4:27 PM ET

    ROME - The Beijing bishop appointed by China's state-controlled Catholic Church said in an interview Wednesday that he hopes Pope Benedict XVI will visit his country and that relations with the Vatican are improving.