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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
WAH, Pakistan - A spokesman for Pakistani Taliban groups has claimed responsibility for the two suicide bombings at a government arms factory near the capital.
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 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.
LUCKNOW, India - Monsoon rains pummeled northern India, bringing dozens of buildings crashing down and killing 74 people, police said Thursday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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