Crimea approves secession vote as tensions rise
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — The volatile confrontation over the future of Ukraine took another tense turn Thursday as Russian allies here in Crimea sought annexation by Moscow and the United States imposed its first sanctions on Russian officials involved in the military occupation of the strategic peninsula.
Karzai accuses US of duplicity in fighting Afghan enemies
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, on Thursday accused the United States of playing a “double game” by fighting a war against Afghan insurgents rather than their backers in Pakistan, and by refusing to supply his country with the weapons it needs to fight enemies across the border. He threatened to turn to China, India and Russia for those arms.
Obama sends apology as Afghan protests rage
KABUL, Afghanistan — The potential scope of the fallout from the burning of several copies of the Quran by U.S. military personnel this week became chillingly clear on Thursday as an Afghan army soldier turned his gun on NATO troops, killing two, while a crowd nearby protested the desecration of the Muslim holy book.
Afghan president Karzai confirms that Iran gives ‘bags of money’
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai acknowledged Monday that he regularly receives bags of cash from the Iranian government in payments amounting to millions of dollars, as evidence mounted of a worsening rift between his government and its U.S. and NATO supporters.
Conflicting stories surround American found in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — As a U.S. military patrol walked through a rural, Taliban-dominated district of Kandahar province recently, a man wearing local clothes came toward them shouting, “Don’t shoot, I am an American!”
Petraeus says Taliban have reached out to Karzai
PARWAN, Afghanistan — The top American commander in Afghanistan said Monday that high-level Taliban leaders had reached out to senior Afghan government officials in the context of starting reconciliation discussions that could pave the way to end the fighting in Afghanistan.
Afghan tribal rivalries bedevil a U.S. plan to counter Taliban
JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN — Six weeks ago, elders of the Shinwari tribe, which dominates a large area in southeastern Afghanistan, pledged that they would set aside internal differences to focus on fighting the Taliban.
Al-Maliki’s Party Wins in Iraq, But Will Need to Form Coalitions
The Dawa Party of Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki was the overwhelming winner of Iraq’s provincial elections, the first official results show. But while candidates in the slate backed by Dawa garnered the most votes of any party in nine of Iraq’s provinces, the party fell short of being able to operate without coalition-building. The initial results reflect a vast majority, but not all, of the votes.
Military Has Cause for Both Hope and Concern in Iraq
Market by market, square by square, the walls are beginning to come down. The miles of hulking blast walls, ugly but effective, were installed as a central feature of the surge of U.S. troops to stop neighbors from killing one another.
Sunni Sheik Who Backed U.S. In Iraq Killed in Bomb Attack
A high-profile Sunni Arab sheik who collaborated with the American military in the fight against jihadist militants in western Iraq was killed in a bomb attack on Thursday near his desert compound. The attack appeared to be a precisely planned assassination meant to undermine one of the Bush administration’s trumpeted achievements in the war.
Shorts (left)
For the Big Three automakers to win over Washington lawmakers in their bid for federal aid, they will have to address a key question in the business plans they present Congress with on Tuesday.
Turkey Seeks Approval to Raid Iraq to Pursue Kurdish Rebels
Tensions mounted along the Iraqi-Turkish border on Monday as the Turkish government sought parliamentary approval for military raids into northern Iraq. The vote in Parliament would permit Turkish armed forces to cross the border in pursuit of Kurdish rebels who launch attacks into Turkey from Iraqi Kurdistan.
Sunni Ministers Threaten to Quit Iraqi Government in Frustration
The largest bloc of Sunni Arabs in the Iraqi parliament threatened to withdraw its ministers from the Shiite-dominated cabinet Tuesday in frustration over the Iraq government’s failure to deal with Sunni concerns.
Suicide Bomber at Parliament Kills Eight People in International Zone
A suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest struck deep inside the heavily fortified International Zone on Thursday, killing eight people when he detonated inside the Parliament building just a few feet from the main chamber.
US General Sees Long Fight, Maybe More Troops For Iraq
The new U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, warned Thursday that U.S. troops here faced a long road ahead and left open the possibility of calling in even more soldiers as he described the difficult task of calming the country.