UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations must shift its focus from just settling disputes between states to coordinating the world’s fight against terrorism, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the second day of a UN summit Thursday. Echoing remarks by Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. …

BAGHDAD (AP) — The US military said on Thursday the brutal insurgent bombings that killed nearly 200 people in Baghdad over the past two days were a “predictable spike in violence” tied to the coming referendum on Iraq’s new constitution. As suicide bombers continued their campaign in Baghdad for a …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israel’s top court ordered the government on Thursday to reroute part of its West Bank barrier to reduce Palestinian hardship, a ruling that could force it to remove a section already built on occupied land. But Israel’s supreme court justices sparked Palestinian anger when they declared …

NEW YORK (Reuters) — A media watchdog criticised the US military on Wednesday for consistently failing to investigate the killing of journalists in Iraq by its forces, and said the Pentagon was losing credibility as a result. The report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, said …

NEW YORK (AP) — Arab nations should make a gesture towards Israel after its withdrawal from Gaza by talking with their Middle East neighbour to chart a future for the region, Qatar’s foreign minister said. Praising the Israeli pullout after 37 years of occupation in Gaza, Sheikh Hamad Ben Jassim …

TEHRAN (Reuters) — Iran is ready to share its nuclear technology, considered to be a front for bomb-making by Washington, with other Islamic countries, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on Thursday. The comments were likely to heighten Western concerns about Tehran’s nuclear programme just ahead of a key …

VIENNA (AP) — A US-European drive to refer Iran to the UN Security Council is encountering fierce opposition and could be postponed despite deep international concerns about Tehran’s nuclear agenda, diplomats and government officials said Thursday. Just days before planned action on referral, the diplomats and officials — some in …

TAL AFAR (AP) — Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari toured the northern city of Tal Afar on Monday — ignoring an alleged Al Qaeda threat to strike with chemical weapons — to congratulate Iraqi soldiers and commandos for successfully rousting militants from the insurgent stronghold near the Syrian border, Iraqi television …

NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip (Reuters) — Jubilant Palestinians planted flags on the rubble of Jewish settlements and set synagogues ablaze on Monday as Israeli troops pulled out of the Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation. “This is a day of happiness and joy that the Palestinian people have not …

AKUEM — Eight months pregnant, Achan Lual headed off into the grassy bush, crisscrossing southern Sudan’s former battlefields, in search of a doctor. Swollen with twins, the 34-year-old arrived four days later at the only operational health centre for hundreds of miles — a collection of mud huts with thatch …