Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in India Thursday for a four-day visit, with Washington hoping New Delhi can persuade him to sign a deal allowing US troops to stay on post-2014. Karzai is scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The US state department has said it is considering all options, including sanctions, towards Ukraine as the political crisis there continues.

The United States and Britain have suspended all non-lethal assistance into Northern Syria, citing concerns that the equipment could end up in the hands of al-Qaeda-linked fighters.