A senior Iraqi lawmaker on Monday called for an urgent resolution to Christian demands for a minority quota system in upcoming provincial elections, while the electoral commission ruled out any possibility of holding the vote this year.

Dozens of Christians protested over the issue at a rally near a church in Baghdad, saying the exclusion of the quota would marginalize their community, which comprises an estimated 3 percent of Iraq's 26 million people.

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KABUL, Afghanistan, 6:57 a.m. Oct. 6 (AP)
Taliban, Afghan officials met in Saudi Arabia: Taliban representatives met with Afghan government officials last month in Saudi Arabia, a former high-level Taliban ambassador said Monday, but he denied the meeting could be construed as peace talks.

ANKARA, Turkey, 11:41 a.m. Oct. 5 (AP)
Turkish warplanes bomb Kurd bases in northern Iraq: Turkish warplanes have bombed Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq, the military said Sunday, two days after rebels killed 15 soldiers in an attack staged partly from Iraqi soil.

BAGHDAD, 9:04 a.m. Oct. 5 (AP)
U.S. military: 11 Iraqis killed in Mosul raid: Eleven Iraqis, including women and children, were killed Sunday after U.S. forces came under attack by gunfire and a suicide bomber during a raid in Mosul, the military said. No U.S. casualties were immediately reported.

WASHINGTON, 12:32 p.m. Oct. 3 (AP)

U.S. company accused of fraud in Afghanistan: A Houston security company has been indicted on charges of defrauding the U.S. government for work done during the Afghanistan war and rebuilding efforts, federal officials said Friday.

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan, 3:38 a.m. Oct. 3 (REUTERS)
Taliban leader rejects talks with Afghan government: A senior Taliban commander on Friday rejected reconciliation with what he called the “puppet” Afghan government, the latest in a series of pronouncements from both sides on potential peace talks.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 3:19 a.m. Oct. 3 (AP)
U.S. says Afghan militants kill a civilian in attack: The U.S. military says a militant attack on their patrol in eastern Afghanistan killed an Afghan civilian and wounded four others.

VILSECK, Germany, 6:48 a.m. Oct. 2 (AP)
U.S. soldier pleads guilty in Iraq killings: A U.S. soldier pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of accessory to murder and was sentenced to eight months in prison for his role in the killing of four Iraqi prisoners who were bound, blindfolded, shot and dumped in a canal.

BAGHDAD, 6:03 a.m. Oct. 2 (AP)
U.S. troops in Iraq encouraged to vote in November: U.S. troops in Iraq were encouraged to vote in November's presidential election during a visit this week by a group of officials from several states.

5:49 p.m. Oct. 1 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan region at 536: As of Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008, at least 536 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Wednesday at 10 a.m. EDT.

WASHINGTON, 2:41 p.m. Oct. 1 (AP)
U.S. shatters Iraqi refugee admission goal: The Bush administration surpassed by nearly 2,000 its goal to admit 12,000 Iraqi refugees in the last budget year amid criticism it has not set the target high enough for the coming 12 months.

WASHINGTON, 2:01 p.m. Oct. 1 (AP)

General: Urgent need for troops in Afghanistan now: The U.S. and its allies should rush more troops “as quickly as possible” to Afghanistan, the top American commander in that country said Wednesday, warning that the fighting could worsen before it get better.

BALAD, Iraq, 12:49 p.m. Oct. 1 (AP)
U.S. combat hospital saving more wounded Iraqis: The U.S. military's main combat hospital in Iraq has increasingly switched to helping Iraqis. As the numbers of wounded American soldiers have fallen, the hospital is now saving the lives of a remarkable 93 percent of Iraqis who come with devastating injuries.

12:07 p.m. Oct. 1 (AP)

Iraq: Key figures since the war began: U.S. TROOP LEVELS: October 2007: 170,000 at peak of troop buildup.

BAGHDAD, 11:19 a.m. Oct. 1 (AP)

Iraq: government takes command of Sons of Iraq: Iraq's Shiite-led government took command Wednesday of thousands of U.S-backed mostly Sunni fighters who turned against al-Qaeda, pledging to integrate them into public life in recognition of their help in quelling violence.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 7:49 a.m. Sept. 30 (AP)

Afghanistan seeks Saudi help to talk with Taliban: Afghanistan's president said Tuesday he has repeatedly asked Saudi Arabia's king to facilitate peace talks with the Taliban.

BAGHDAD, 9:04 a.m. Sept. 30 (AP)

Iraqi police: Car bomb in Baghdad kills 3: A parked car bomb targeted a restaurant in a mostly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing three people and injuring at least six others.

BAGDHAD, 12:32 p.m. Sept. 29 (AP)

Iraq buys 12 U.S.-made reconnaissance planes: Iraq has bought 12 new U.S.-built reconnaissance planes to monitor militants and the borders, the Defense Ministry said Monday, a small step in the country's attempt to reassert itself in air space now controlled by U.S.-led forces.

BAGHDAD, 12:56 p.m. Sept. 29 (AP)
Iraq says doctors can carry guns for protection: Iraq will allow doctors to carry guns to protect themselves after hundreds have been targeted and killed since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the government said Monday.

BAGHDAD, 3:43 a.m. Sept. 29 (AP)

Iraq PM says security pact in U.S., Iraqi interest: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says that reaching a new security accord with the United States is essential to both sides, but that any deal must respect Iraqi interests.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 2:31 a.m. Sept. 29 (AP)

U.N.: 20,000 flee from Pakistan into Afghanistan: The United Nations says 20,000 Pakistani refugees have fled to Afghanistan to avoid fighting between militants and Pakistan's military.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 1:44 a.m. Sept. 29 (AP)

15 militants die after clash with Pakistani troops: Pakistani forces seeking to conquer a Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold near the border with Afghanistan killed 15 insurgents in ongoing clashes, officials said Monday.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 1:24 a.m. Sept. 29 (AP)

4 Afghan bodyguards die in attack on politician: Gunmen targeting an Afghan provincial council chief killed four of his bodyguards, while a Taliban leader died in an airstrike in central Afghanistan, officials said Monday.

BAGHDAD, 8:09 a.m. Sept. 28 (AP)

U.S. ambassador appeals for patience in Iraq: U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Sunday accused Iran of trying to interfere with a new security pact between Iraq and the United States, and said Americans need to view Iraq with “a sense of strategic patience” because the stakes in the region are so high.

BAGHDAD, 10:10 a.m. Sept. 28 (AP)
Iraqi Christians protest end to quotas in vote law: Hundreds of Iraqi Christians rallied in northern Iraq on Sunday to protest a new elections law they say denies them their rights because it doesn't guarantee their minority any seats on provincial councils.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 8:25 a.m. Sept. 28 (AP)
Afghan woman police director gunned down: Two gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a high-ranking woman police official in Afghanistan's largest southern city Sunday, while a suicide bomber killed three police and three civilians in the same region.

BAGHDAD, 12:58 p.m. Sept. 27 (AP)

Iraq: Kurdish politician killed in disputed region: Iraqi police fatally shot a Kurdish politician in one of Iraq's most volatile provinces Saturday, a killing that underlines the growing tensions between Kurds and Arabs in parts of the north.

WASHINGTON, 2:34 p.m. Sept. 26 (AP)
Bush, Karzai discuss conditions in Afghanistan: President Bush played down rising violence in Afghanistan during a meeting with that nation's leader Friday and highlighted civilian reconstruction work that has improved the daily lives of Afghans trying to fend off a persistent insurgency.

ANKARA, Turkey, 8:23 a.m. Sept. 26 (AP)

Turkish warplanes hit 16 Kurdish targets in Iraq: Turkish warplanes successfully attacked 16 Kurdish rebel targets in a cross-border raid in northern Iraq, a military spokesman said Friday.

WASHINGTON, 5:13 p.m. Sept. 25 (AP)

Interrogator details pre-Abu Ghraib abuses: A military interrogation expert, Air Force Col. Steven Kleinman, told Congress on Thursday that prior to the abuses at Abu Ghraib, he witnessed interrogations of Iraqi detainees that he considers violations of the Geneva Conventions.

BAGHDAD, 10:00 a.m. Sept. 25 (AP)

Sons of Iraq get a new boss: The quarrel didn't last long. Angry Sunni fighters temporarily abandoned their checkpoints in a western Baghdad neighborhood after Iraqi soldiers briefly detained some of their colleagues, whose U.S.-backed patrols have helped curb violence.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 7:33 a.m. Sept. 25 (AP)

NATO: Pakistani troops fire on U.S. helicopters: Pakistani troops fired at American reconnaissance helicopters patrolling the Afghan-Pakistan border Thursday, heightening tensions as U.S. steps up cross-border operations in a region known as a haven for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

BAGHDAD, 2:28 a.m. Sept. 25 (AP)
Iraq cholera cases on the rise: Iraq's Health Ministry is reporting a total of 327 confirmed cholera cases in central and southern Iraq since an outbreak of the disease last month.

BAGHDAD, 5:33 a.m. Sept. 25 (AP)
Iraqi police raise death toll in ambush to 35: Iraqi police on Thursday raised the death toll in an ambush against Iraqi forces raiding a Sunni village northeast of Baghdad to 35, most of them commandos sent to the area as part of a U.S.-backed military crackdown.

BAGHDAD, 1:47 p.m. Sept. 24 (AP)

Iraq parliament paves way for provincial elections: Under intense U.S. pressure, Iraq's parliament approved a law Wednesday paving the way for the first provincial elections in four years following months of deadlock that American commanders warned could jeopardize the dramatic decline in violence.

UNITED NATIONS, 2:11 p.m. Sept. 24 (AP)
Karzai addresses U.N. General Assembly: Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants the international community to strengthen his country's army and police, telling world leaders Wednesday that a more powerful Afghanistan can better fight terrorists.

UNITED NATIONS, 2:27 p.m. Sept. 24 (AP)
Bush, Iraqi leader thank a dwindling coalition: The coalition of the willing that went to war in Iraq is becoming the coalition of the disappearing.

LONDON, 3:08 p.m. Sept. 24 (AP)
UK commander: More troops needed in Afghanistan: The commander of Britain's forces in Helmand said he could use as many as 4,000 extra troops to help stabilize the battle-scarred southern Afghan province, according to an interview broadcast Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, 2:21 p.m. Sept. 23 (AP)

Gates sees more troops in Afghanistan, with limits: Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday the Pentagon may be able to send thousands more combat troops to Afghanistan starting next spring, but he also pointedly cautioned against overdoing a military buildup in a country offended by the presence of foreign forces.

BAGHDAD, 12:07 p.m. Sept. 23 (AP)

U.S. soldiers accidentally kill Sunni leader in Iraq: American soldiers accidentally shot and killed the leader of a local U.S.-allied Sunni group Tuesday after coming under attack in a volatile area north of Baghdad, the military said.

NEW YORK, 6:48 a.m. Sept. 23 (AP)

Bush, Zardari discuss U.S. incursions in Pakistan: President Bush on Tuesday expressed sorrow for the victims of a deadly truck bomb that devastated a Marriott hotel in Islamabad and acknowledged tensions over U.S. military incursions into Pakistani territory.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 6:52 a.m. Sept. 23 (AP)

U.S. allows first family visits to Afghan prison: Five detainees in an American military prison in Afghanistan met with their families Tuesday in the first face-to-face visits allowed since the U.S. set up the detention center six years ago, officials said.

AMMAN, Jordan, 6:46 a.m. Sept. 23 (AP)

Iraq resumes oil supplies to Jordan: Iraq resumed exporting cheap oil to Jordan for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the Jordanian Oil Minister Khaldoun Qteishat said Tuesday.

BAGHDAD, 1:19 p.m. Sept. 22 (AP)

Iraqi officials: At least 8 killed in bombings, most children: A bomb hidden under a pile of trash struck children playing soccer near the northern city of Mosul on Monday, killing at least five of the youths, Iraqi officials said.

6:27 p.m. Sept. 22 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Iraq war at 4,169: As of Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, at least 4,169 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

UNITED NATIONS, 1:01 p.m. Sept. 22 (AP)
U.N. votes to extend NATO-led force in Afghanistan: The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Monday to extend the NATO-led force in Afghanistan but was critical of the growing number of civilian casualties, and urged its troops and U.S.-led forces to make major efforts to minimize civilian deaths.

PARIS, 1:05 p.m. Sept. 22 (AP)
French lawmakers approve Afghan military mission: France's Parliament authorized the government Monday to continue its military commitment in Afghanistan, and the prime minister pledged 100 extra troops following a deadly ambush there last month.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 2:28 p.m. Sept. 22 (AP)
U.S. military frees Afghan journalist held 11 months: An Afghan journalist detained for 11 months at the U.S. military base at Bagram alleged on Monday that his captors kicked him, forced him to stand barefoot in the snow and didn't allow him to sleep for days.

WASHINGTON, 10:36 a.m. Sept. 22 (AP)

Afghans want military force at Pakistan border: Afghanistan wants to set up a joint military force that would have the power to operate on both sides of the border with Pakistan, where militants have found safe haven.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 5:02 a.m. Sept. 22 (AP)

Militants kidnap 155 workers building Afghan base: Militants stopped three buses carrying Afghan laborers through western Afghanistan and kidnapped everyone on board – around 155 people, officials said Monday.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 8:12 a.m. Sept. 21 (AP)
U.N.: Guns fall silent in Afghanistan on Peace Day: The U.N. said guns fell silent across much of Afghanistan on Sunday for an International Peace Day that saw pledges by the U.S., NATO, the Afghan government and the Taliban to halt attacks.

BAGHDAD, 8:19 a.m. Sept. 21 (AP)
Iraqi's warmth to Israel exacts a heavy price: First his two sons were murdered. Now he faces prosecution. The reason for Mithal al-Alusi's troubles? Visiting Israel and advocating peace with the Jewish state – something Iraq's leaders refuse to consider.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 10:51 a.m. Sept. 20 (AP)
NATO to halt Afghan operations for Peace Day: NATO's top general in Afghanistan has ordered all international troops in the country to halt offensive operations Sunday in honor of a U.N.-backed day of peace. Even the Taliban is pledging to lay down their weapons for a day.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 6:45 a.m. Sept. 19 (AP)
U.S. coalition reports one death in Afghanistan: A roadside bomb hit a U.S.-led coalition convoy in western Afghanistan Friday, killing one coalition member, while NATO troops in the south killed a civilian who did not heed their warnings to stop.

TOKYO, 6:00 a.m. Sept. 19 (AP)
Japan Cabinet OKs anti-terror mission extension: Japan's Cabinet approved a bill Friday to extend a refueling mission in support of U.S.-led anti-terror operations in the Indian Ocean, officials said.

LONDON, 11:00 a.m. Sept. 18 (AP)
Gates: U.S. reviewing its Afghanistan war strategy: In an echo of a time when things were going from bad to worse in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday the Bush administration is reviewing its war strategy in Afghanistan amid spreading insurgent violence, rising U.S. and allied military deaths and doubts about winning.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, 7:33 a.m. Sept. 18 (AP)

Karzai ally killed in battle with NATO troops: NATO-led troops killed an ally of President Hamid Karzai in southern Afghanistan during an overnight gunbattle, officials said Thursday. The Afghan president said the death resulted from a “misunderstanding between foreign and local forces.”

VILSECK, Germany, 6:32 a.m. Sept. 18 (AP)

U.S. soldier gets 7-month sentence in Iraq killings: A U.S. soldier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder and was sentenced to seven months in prison Thursday in the deaths of four Iraqis, saying he stood guard from a machine-gun turret while the bound and blindfolded prisoners were shot.

LONDON, 5:38 a.m. Sept. 18 (AP)

Gates: U.S. reviewing its Afghanistan war strategy: The Bush administration is looking at possible changes in its war strategy in Afghanistan in light of rising levels of violence and an increasingly complex insurgent threat, Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged Thursday.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 12:23 a.m. Sept. 18 (AP)

Pakistan: U.S. did not warn of missile strike: Pakistan said Thursday it was not warned about a suspected U.S. missile strike in its northwest that came the same day a top American official assured Pakistani leaders of U.S. respect for its sovereignty.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 2:53 p.m. Sept. 17 (AP)

Gates expresses regret for civilian deaths: Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered the people of Afghanistan his “personal regrets” Wednesday for U.S. airstrikes that have killed civilians and said he would try to improve the accuracy of air warfare, the imperfect fallback for U.S. commanders who say they don't have enough ground forces for the deepening Afghanistan war.

BAGHDAD, 2:09 p.m. Sept. 17 (AP)
Iraqi PM: Obstacles remain to U.S. security deal: Iraq's prime minister said Wednesday that obstacles remain in negotiations with the United States over a security pact that will determine the future of American forces in Iraq.

BAGHDAD, 2:55 p.m. Sept. 17 (AP)
Governor's assistant killed in northern Iraq: Gunmen killed a Sunni assistant to the governor of one of Iraq's most volatile provinces on Wednesday, the latest in a series of attacks that have marred the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in Iraq.

FRANKFURT, Germany, 8:08 a.m. Sept. 17 (AP)

3 U.S. soldiers charged with murder in Iraqi deaths: Three American soldiers were charged with murder Wednesday in the deaths of four Iraqis who were bound, blindfolded, shot in the head and dumped in a Baghdad canal last year.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 9:50 p.m. Sept. 16 (AP)

General: Far more U.S. troops needed in Afghanistan: A shortage of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is forcing commanders to rely more on air combat, which can cause more civilian deaths, a top U.S. commander said, underscoring a trend seen lately in a series of attacks that have angered and embarrassed the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

6:54 p.m. Sept. 16 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan region at 524: As of Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008, at least 524 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Tuesday at 10 a.m. EDT.

6:51 p.m. Sept. 16 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Iraq war at 4,159: As of Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008, at least 4,159 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

BAGHDAD, 1:42 p.m. Sept. 16 (AP)

U.S. imposes sanctions on 5 accused in Iraq violence: The Bush administration said Tuesday it was imposing economic sanctions against five people accused of supporting violence in Iraq, including an Iranian who allegedly planned one of the most sophisticated attacks against U.S. forces since the war started.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 1:19 p.m. Sept. 16 (AP)
U.N.: 1,445 Afghan civilians killed in 2008 violence: The United Nations said Tuesday that 1,445 Afghan civilians have been killed so far this year in attacks by insurgents or U.S.- and NATO-led forces – a 40 percent increase over 2007.

WASHINGTON, 7:01 a.m. Sept. 16 (AP)

House gives go-ahead to sue Iraq over torture: Former POWs and civilians who were tortured or held hostage during the 1991 Gulf War could pursue lawsuits against Iraq under legislation the House has approved.

TEHRAN, Iran, 8:18 a.m. Sept. 16 (AP)

Iran gives full powers to hard-line Guards in Gulf: Iran announced Tuesday that it has put the elite Revolutionary Guards in charge of defending the country's territorial Persian Gulf waters in what appeared to be a hardening of its stance in the vital oil route.

PARIS, 6:58 a.m. Sept. 16 (AP)

France pushing for more sanctions against Iran: The Security Council should impose more sanctions on Iran over its stonewalling of a U.N. investigation into allegations that Tehran tried to make nuclear weapons, France said Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 4:16 a.m. Sept. 16 (AP)

Pakistan orders troops to stop U.S. raids: Pakistan's army spokesman says its forces have orders to open fire on U.S. troops if they launch another raid across the Afghan border.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 1:27 p.m. Sept. 15 (AP)
Afghanistan frees young son of al-Qaeda suspect: The 12-year-old son of a woman suspected of links to al-Qaeda and facing charges in New York was freed Monday by Afghanistan and sent to his family in Pakistan, two months after he was detained with his mother.

BAGHDAD, 1:33 p.m. Sept. 14 (AP)

Petraeus: More than troops needed in Afghanistan: U.S. Gen. David Petraeus said Sunday that experience in Iraq shows it will take political and economic progress as well as military action to tackle increased violence in Afghanistan.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 10:14 a.m. Sept. 14 (AP)

Afghanistan: U.S. killed civilians after false tip: An American bombing that killed up to 90 Afghan civilians last month was based on false information provided by a rival tribe and did not kill a single Taliban fighter, the president's spokesman said Sunday.

BAGHDAD, 8:13 a.m. Sept. 14 (AP)
Roadside bombs strike Iraq police convoy, kill 5: Three roadside bombs planted in succession struck a police convoy in one of Iraq's most dangerous provinces on Sunday, killing five policemen. In Baghdad, the leader of a Sunni group allied with the U.S. died when his booby-trapped car exploded.

CAIRO, Egypt, 8:40 a.m. Sept. 14 (AP)
Plight of fellow Iraqis shapes oud player's music: Iraqi composer Naseer Shamma is such a master of the traditional Arab stringed instrument called the oud that he has taught himself to play one-handed.

BAGHDAD, 11:54 p.m. Sept. 13 (AP)
Iraq: bomb kills 4 U.S.-backed, Sunni fighters: Iraqi officials say a bomb has killed the leader of a U.S.-backed, Sunni armed group in a western district of Baghdad.

BAGHDAD, 3:12 a.m. Sept. 13 (AP)
Hearing for U.S. soldier charged with killing Iraqi: A hearing began Saturday to determine if one of two U.S. soldiers charged with killing an Iraqi detainee and then lying about it should be court-martialed.

PAGHMAN, Afghanistan, 1:06 a.m. Sept. 13 (AP)
Bomb kills Afghan governor, 3 others: A remote control bomb that witnesses said was set off by two men on a nearby hilltop ripped through an Afghan provincial governor's vehicle on Saturday, killing the governor and three others, officials said.

WASHINGTON, 10:23 a.m. Sept. 12 (AP)

U.S. passes Iraqi refugee admissions goal: The Bush administration said Friday it has surpassed its goal of allowing 12,000 Iraqi refugees into the United States this year and will try to admit at least 17,000 next year.

UDAIM, Iraq, 8:38 a.m. Sept. 12 (AP)

Iraqi women take aim at expanded police roles: The widow was nervous at first but smiled after she fired 160 rounds from a Kalashnikov at a black-and-white target.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 2:08 p.m. Sept. 11 (AP)

Deaths make 2008 deadliest for U.S. in Afghanistan: Insurgents killed two U.S. troops in Afghanistan on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks Thursday, making 2008 the deadliest year for American forces since U.S. troops invaded the country in 2001 for sheltering Osama bin Laden.

5:05 a.m. Sept. 12 (REUTERS)
U.S. firm ambushed again in Afghan south: Taliban insurgents ambushed a U.S. security firm convoy in southwestern Afghanistan on Friday, killing four guards and four civilians, a provincial official said, the second attack on the firm in as many days.

BAGHDAD, 10:37 a.m. Sept. 11 (AP)
Iraq's parliament to pick new flag in November: For years, Iraq's flag has been a symbol of national division rather than unity. In November, Iraq's parliament will vote on a new flag after years of wrangling over its design, an Iraqi lawmaker said Thursday.

BRUSSELS, 9:32 a.m. Sept. 11 (REUTERS)

NATO says won't take part in Pakistan raids: NATO will not take part in a proposed U.S. strategy of conducting raids into Pakistan from Afghanistan against Taliban and al Qaeda militants, a spokesman said on Thursday.

BAGHDAD, 7:07 a.m. Sept. 11 (AP)

Iraq ends talks with French oil company: France's Total said Thursday that Iraq has ended negotiations to develop an oil field in southern Iraq, one of six reported cancellations of no-bid contracts with Western oil companies.

BAGHDAD, 5:57 a.m. Sept. 11 (AP)

Iraq: Death toll in cholera outbreak rises to 5: Cholera has killed five people in Baghdad and southern areas in an outbreak partly caused by the deterioration of water facilities during years of conflict, Iraq said Thursday.

LONDON, 3:48 a.m. Sept. 11 (AP)

UK's Brown seeks new approach on Pakistan border: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he'll discuss a new approach to policing the Afghan-Pakistan border in talks with U.S. President George W. Bush.

TOKYO, 2:42 a.m. Sept. 11 (AP)

Japan weighs military withdrawal from Iraq: Japan said Thursday it may withdraw its military airlift mission in Iraq by the end of the year in light of security improvements there and a growing focus on Afghanistan.

TORONTO, 5:13 p.m. Sept. 10 (AP)
Canada PM: Troops home from Afghanistan in 2011: Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised for the first time Wednesday that Canada's troops in Afghanistan will be withdrawn in 2011, as his minority government looks to win support in national elections next month.

4:40 p.m. Sept. 10 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Iraq war at 4,155: As of Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008, at least 4,155 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

4:39 p.m. Sept. 10 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan region at 517: As of Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008, at least 517 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Wednesday at 10 a.m. EDT.

BAGHDAD, 3:16 p.m. Sept. 10 (AP)
Blasts shake Iraqi city of Karbala, killing 2: Two bombs exploded an hour apart late Wednesday in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, killing at least two people and wounding 15 others, including women and children, police and hospital officials said.

WASHINGTON, 2:55 p.m. Sept. 10 (AP)

Defense chiefs: Afghan fighting is getting harder: Even with American troops headed soon from an increasingly quiet Iraq to a more turbulent Afghanistan, defeating extremists in Afghanistan is growing more complex and more urgent, President Bush's senior defense advisers say.

WASHINGTON, 1:19 p.m. Sept. 10 (REUTERS)

U.S. has entered 'endgame' in Iraq-Pentagon chief: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday the war in Iraq had entered its ”endgame” and urged the next U.S. president to continue a cautious approach to troop cuts.

BAGHDAD, 9:40 a.m. Sept. 10 (AP)
Cholera outbreak spreads in Iraq, with 2 dead: Cholera has killed two people and infected at least 90 as it spreads in Iraq's southern Babil province, local and national health officials said Wednesday.

KABUL Sept 10, 5:02 a.m. Sept. 10 (REUTERS)
Afghans won't tolerate more civilian deaths in raids: Afghans are seething with anger over a spate of civilian deaths in air strikes mounted by U.S.-led coalition forces, a top Afghan defence official said on Wednesday, calling for greater involvement of the Afghan army in operations.

12:32 a.m. Sept. 10 (AP)
Odierno next in line to lead Iraq: Ray Odierno will be the fifth four-star Army general to lead U.S. forces in Iraq since the war began in 2003.

WASHINGTON, 12:31 a.m. Sept. 10 (AP)
Petraeus' former deputy returns as Iraq chief: Home barely long enough to knock the Iraq dust off his boots, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno is returning to Baghdad to command a slowly shrinking force in possibly the final phase of American combat action.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 5:36 p.m. Sept. 9 (AP)
Off-target NATO bomb kills 2 Afghan civilians: A NATO bomb mistakenly hit a house 1½ miles off target Tuesday, killing two civilians and wounding 10 even as Afghanistan's president was saying that terrorism cannot be defeated if innocents are killed in coalition operations.

5:13 p.m. Sept. 9 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Iraq war at 4,155: As of Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008, at least 4,155 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

BAGHDAD, 12:39 p.m. Sept. 9 (AP)
TV journalist escapes assassination in Baghdad: An Iraqi journalist for one of the Middle East's best-known satellite television stations escaped assassination Tuesday when a bomb was found under the seat of his car as he prepared to leave home for work.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, 11:34 a.m. Sept. 9 (AP)

4 militants killed in Pakistan missile strike: Four foreign militants were killed in a suspected U.S. missile strike in northwest Pakistan, two Pakistani intelligence officials said Tuesday.

BAGHDAD, 2:17 a.m. Sept. 9 (REUTERS)
U.S. frees cameraman working for Baghdad TV station: The U.S. military has released an Iraqi cameraman who works for a television station in Baghdad after detaining him in a raid last week.

BAGHDAD, 7:50 a.m. Sept. 9 (REUTERS)
Iraq parliamentary speaker wants poll law row resolved: Iraq's parliamentary speaker has summoned the heads of political parties to a meeting on Wednesday to try to speed up passage of a stalled provincial elections law, officials said on Tuesday.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 12:15 p.m. Sept. 8 (AP)
Videos said to show dead Afghan children after U.S. raid: The bodies of at least 10 children and many more adults covered in blankets and white shrouds appear in videos obtained by The Associated Press on Monday, lending weight to Afghan and U.N. allegations that a U.S.-led raid last month killed more civilians than the U.S. reported.

MOSUL, Iraq, 11:45 a.m. Sept. 8 (AP)

U.S. finds clues in bakery to foil Iraqi terror plot: Lt. Christopher Hanes knew something was wrong as soon as he stepped into the Friends bakery. The oven was unused, the water tank was empty and a large concrete bin was full of dirt that the two employees claimed was used to cool cakes.

WASHINGTON, 3:12 p.m. Sept. 8 (AP)

Bush to announce 8,000 troops home by February: President Bush plans to keep U.S. troop levels in Iraq near their current level through the end of the year and will pull home about 8,000 U.S. troops by February when the next president will be in charge of wartime decision-making.

WASHINGTON, 3:25 p.m. Sept. 8 (AP)
Pentagon IG reviewing 18 possible electrocutions: The number of U.S. troops and contractors electrocuted in Iraq is higher than previously reported, and now stands at 18, a senator said Monday.

KABUL, 6:34 a.m. Sept. 8 (REUTERS)

Afghan leader to attend Zardari's inauguration: Afghan President Hamid Karzai will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Pakistani president-elect Asif Ali Zardari, the Afghan leader's office said on Monday, in what is seen an attempt to make a fresh start in strained relations.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 6:14 a.m. Sept. 8 (AP)

Marines turn Afghan town over to British, Afghans: U.S. Marines who took back a key town in southern Afghanistan from Taliban militants in an operation earlier this year turned over responsibility for the area to British and Afghan forces on Monday.

KABUL, 5:04 a.m. Sept. 8 (REUTERS)

Afghan kidnappings damage business revival: When foreigners are kidnapped in Afghanistan it always makes headlines, but it rarely rates a mention when Afghans are abducted in their own country as worsening security and poverty fuel crime.

BAGHDAD, 10:50 a.m. Sept. 7 (AP)

Iraqi parliament resumes with full plate: Iraqi lawmakers end their summer break this week facing urgent tasks of approving a new election law and signing off on a still-unfinished security pact with the U.S. – key steps in laying the foundation for a lasting peace.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 1:55 p.m. Sept. 7 (AP)
U.S. has new information on Afghan civilian deaths: The U.S. military says it has “new information” about allegations that an American attack last month killed scores of Afghan women and children and is sending a senior officer to Afghanistan to review its initial conclusion that only up to seven civilians died.

BAGHDAD, 9:54 a.m. Sept. 7 (AP)
Health chiefs battle to bring back Iraqi doctors: A kidney specialist who fled Iraq's bombings, kidnappings and sectarian killings 20 months ago has reported back to work at his Baghdad hospital – one of some 800 doctors who have returned over the summer.

BAGHDAD, 7:57 a.m. Sept. 7 (AP)
Iraqi Cabinet approves initial gas deal with Shell: Iraq's Cabinet approved an initial gas agreement Sunday between the Oil Ministry and Royal Dutch Shell to invest in a joint venture to tap natural gas in southern Iraq, a government statement said.

BAGHDAD, 12:46 p.m. Sept. 6 (AP)
U.S. hearing scheduled in Iraq death case: A pretrial hearing will be held Sept. 20 at a U.S. base in Tikrit for an Army lieutenant charged in the death of an Iraqi detainee, the U.S. military announced Saturday.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, 5:17 a.m. Sept. 6 (AP)
15 killed in Afghan suicide blast, shoot-out: A suicide bomb attack by a fake beggar inside a regional prosecutor's office and a shoot-out between police and Taliban militants killed 15 people in Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said.

WASHINGTON, 5:19 p.m. Sept. 5 (AP)
Palin's son's job to guard his commanders in Iraq: The long and divisive war in Iraq is about to resonate with presidential candidates in a way not seen so far in the campaign: The sons of both vice presidential nominees are assigned to go there soon.

BAGHDAD, 4:56 p.m. Sept. 5 (AP)
Iraq govt reacts sharply to U.S. spying allegations: The Iraqi government reacted sharply Friday to published allegations that the U.S. spied on Iraq's prime minister, warning that future ties with the United States could be in jeopardy if the report were true.

BAGHDAD, 1:32 p.m. Sept. 5 (AP)
Official: Baghdad car bomb kills 2: An Iraqi police official says a car bomb apparently targeting the convoy of former Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi has exploded in western Baghdad, killing two civilians.

GHANI KHIEL, Afghanistan, 11:28 a.m. Sept. 5 (AP)
AP IMPACT: Afghans fed up with government, U.S.: The bearded, turbaned men gather beneath a large, leafy tree in rural eastern Nangarhar province. When Malik Mohammed speaks on their behalf, his voice is soft but his words are harsh.

BAGHDAD, 11:23 a.m. Sept. 5 (AP)
Lingering tensions slow Iraqi withdrawal plans: Concern over upcoming elections and widening tensions among Iraq's religious and ethnic groups appear behind the U.S. military's recommendation to put the brakes on withdrawing more American troops from Iraq despite improvements in security.

WASHINGTON, 10:10 a.m. Sept. 5 (AP)
U.S. commander sees a 'slow win' in Afghanistan: U.S.-led forces are achieving a “slow win” in Afghanistan, but the less-than-decisive approach must be accelerated soon, a key American commander there said Friday.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 7:15 a.m. Sept. 5 (AP)
6 militants, 2 civilians killed in Afghan raid: An overnight raid early Friday killed six militants and two civilians in western Afghanistan, the U.S. coalition said.

CAIRO, Egypt, 6:57 a.m. Sept. 5 (AP)
Afghan al-Qaeda figure warns of attacks on West: Al-Qaeda's top commander in Afghanistan warned of more attacks against the West in a video posted on the Web that paid tribute to a suicide bomber said to have carried out the June bombing of the Danish Embassy in Pakistan.

WASHINGTON, 5:50 p.m. Sept. 4 (AP)

Sources: Bush advised to delay troop cuts in Iraq: President Bush's top defense advisers have recommended he maintain 15 combat brigades in Iraq until the end of the year contrary to expectations that the improved security in Iraq would allow for quicker cuts, The Associated Press has learned.

WASHINGTON, 9:37 a.m. Sept. 4 (AP)

Bush considering U.S. troop levels in Iraq: With recommendations from his top military advisers in hand, President Bush is weighing when to resume a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq and at what pace, the White House said Thursday.

WASHINGTON, 7:53 p.m. Sept. 4 (AP)
Woodward: Bush 'too often failed to lead' on Iraq: President Bush “rarely was the voice of realism” on the Iraq war and “too often failed to lead,” according to a new book by Bob Woodward examining how the president handled the war effort during some of the conflict's most difficult years.

BAGHDAD, 1:08 p.m. Sept. 4 (AP)
Iraq to open Saddam abuse museum at Abu Ghraib: The notorious Abu Ghraib prison is getting a facelift: work to reopen the facility and construct a museum documenting Saddam Hussein's crimes – but not the abuses committed there by U.S. guards.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 2:56 a.m. Sept. 4 (AP)
Afghan chief speaks to Bush about civilian deaths: President Hamid Karzai has spoken to President Bush about a recent raid in which Afghan officials accused American forces of killing up to 90 civilians, his office said.

BAGHDAD, 6:18 a.m. Sept. 4 (REUTERS)

U.S. detains second Iraqi cameraman this week: The U.S. military arrested an Iraqi cameraman on Thursday, his family and employer said, two days after the detention of a freelance photographer working for Reuters news agency.

WASHINGTON, 2:11 p.m. Sept. 3 (AP)
2,183 Iraqi refugees admitted last month: The United States admitted fewer Iraqi refugees in August than in the previous record-setting month, but remains on pace to meet the Bush administration's goal of 12,000 by the end of September.

BAGHDAD, 5:47 a.m. Sept. 3 (REUTERS)
Iraq to reopen Abu Ghraib prison, include museum: Iraq plans to renovate and reopen Abu Ghraib prison, the notorious site of executions and torture under Saddam Hussein and later of a U.S. prisoner abuse scandal.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, 9:47 p.m. Sept. 2 (AP)
U.S.-led forces allegedly involved in Pakistan attack: At least 15 people, including women and children, were killed in an attack involving U.S.-led forces in a remote Pakistani village near the border with Afghanistan, intelligence officials and a witness said Wednesday.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 2:55 p.m. Sept. 2 (AP)

U.S. probe disputes civilian deaths in Afghanistan: A U.S. investigation released Tuesday disputed a U.N. report that found “credible evidence” that up to 90 civilians died in a raid on a western Afghan village, saying an after-battle assessment found most of the victims were Taliban fighters.

BAGHDAD, 12:42 p.m. Sept. 2 (AP)
Baghdad touched by war even as security takes hold: Salam Dawood sat in his car stuck in traffic. A mother and her two sons shuffled among the vehicles, begging for money when a roadside bomb exploded.

BAGHDAD, 10:45 a.m. Sept. 2 (REUTERS)

Iraq militants plotted bomb attack using tunnel-U.S.: U.S. forces said they foiled a plan by Iraqi militants to bomb a government building using a subterranean tunnel, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

BAGHDAD, 5:33 a.m. Sept. 2 (AP)
Iraqi Cabinet approves China oil deal: Iraq has approved a $3 billion deal with China to develop the al-Ahdab oil field. It's the first Saddam-era oil deal to be honored by the new Iraqi government. It initially was canceled after the 2003 invasion.

11:32 a.m. Sept. 1 (AP)
Iraq: An Anbar province timeline: Some key events in Iraq's Anbar province since U.S.-led invasion:

KABUL, Afghanistan, 11:22 a.m. Sept. 1 (AP)
5 Afghan children killed in raids: Foreign and Afghan forces accidentally killed five children in two separate operations Monday, further undermining President Hamid Karzai after he demanded a halt to attacks in civilian areas.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 11:58 a.m. Aug. 31 (AP)

Afghan commission says U.S. troops fired on first: An Afghan army commander said that U.S. and Afghan troops were fired on first from a village where a government investigative commission says scores of civilians were killed, according to a report released Sunday.

TAL AFAR, Iraq, 9:31 a.m. Aug. 30 (AP)
Iraqi police want equipment to stop bombers: Iraqi police in this provincial backwater got a tip earlier this month that a suicide bomber was on the loose. They were even given his name, age and a description of his car.

BAGHDAD, 6:54 a.m. Aug. 30 (AP)
U.S. military: More than 11,000 Iraqis freed in 2008: More than 11,000 Iraqis have been released from American detention centers this year, leaving nearly 20,000 still in custody, the U.S. military said Saturday.

BAQOUBA, Iraq, 12:17 a.m. Aug. 30 (AP)

Bombs, sectarian tensions still scar Iraq's Diyala: The government offices in Iraq's Diyala province are encased in thick blast walls, a shield against suicide bombings. Nearby buildings are pockmarked from fighting between U.S. troops and Sunni insurgents.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 10:42 p.m. Aug. 29 (AP)
U.S.: Several militants killed north of Kabul: The U.S.-led coalition says several militants have been killed in clashes and airstrikes north of the Afghan capital Kabul.

BAGHDAD, 6:01 a.m. Aug. 29 (REUTERS)

Iraqi girl tells of ordeal as suicide bomber: Rania is only 15-years old, but in the past week the softly spoken Iraqi girl has been drugged, strapped with explosives, arrested by men she nearly blew up and then shoved into a detention center.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 12:42 a.m. Aug. 29 (AP)
U.S.-led coalition: 12 militants dead in Afghanistan: The U.S.-led coalition says a dozen militants were killed in a gunbattle with coalition forces in Afghanistan.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 2:04 p.m. Aug. 28 (AP)
Afghans say deadly U.S. raid based on misleading tip: Afghan officials said Thursday that a deadly U.S.-led special forces raid on a remote western village last week was based on misleading information provided by a rival clan.

BAGHDAD, 12:38 p.m. Aug. 28 (AP)

Senior Iraqi official suspected of militia links: A senior official in Nouri al-Maliki's government was in custody Thursday suspected of ties to Iranian-backed Shiite militias and plotting a June bombing that killed 10 people, including four Americans, Iraqi authorities said.

WASHINGTON, 10:01 a.m. Aug. 28 (AP)

Pentagon brass meet secretly with Pakistanis: With violence worsening in Afghanistan and Pakistan, top U.S. military officers conducted a secret strategy session with commanders from Islamabad on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean.

BAQOUBA, Iraq, 12:29 a.m. Aug. 28 (AP)

Iraqi forces starting to lead but need U.S. aid: The Iraqi battalion leader huddled over the map with his American advisers, showing them how he planned to surround a Sunni enclave where al-Qaeda militants were believed hiding.

WASHINGTON, 7:23 a.m. Aug. 27 (REUTERS)

U.S. soldiers say they executed Iraqis on riverbank: Three U.S. soldiers killed four handcuffed and blindfolded Iraqi prisoners with pistol shots on the bank of a Baghdad canal last year, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

BAGHDAD, 12:29 p.m. Aug. 27 (AP)
U.S. military says Baghdad bombing suspect detained: The U.S. military says it has captured a suspected senior Shiite militant believed to be behind a June bombing in Baghdad that killed four Americans and six Iraqis.

WASHINGTON, 8:47 a.m. Aug. 27 (AP)

Fewer Marines needed in Iraq's western province: The U.S. Marine commandant said Wednesday that his forces in Iraq's once-volatile western Anbar province can be reduced, as the military moves to hand over control of the region to the Iraqis next week.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 8:19 a.m. Aug. 26 (AP)

U.N.: Opium cultivation drops in Afghanistan: Drought and anti-drug campaigns helped slash Afghanistan's opium poppy cultivation by 19 percent this year compared to 2007, but the country is still far and away the world's leading source of the heroin-producing crop, the U.N. said Tuesday.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 6:12 a.m. Aug. 26 (AP)

U.N. accuses U.S.-led troops in deaths of Afghans: The United Nations said Tuesday it has found “convincing evidence” that U.S. coalition troops and Afghan forces killed some 90 civilians, including 60 children, in airstrikes in western Afghanistan.

BAGHDAD, 7:26 a.m. Aug. 26 (AP)
Separate bombings kill at least 30 in Iraq: A suicide bomber in a car laden with explosives sped toward a group of police recruits in an Iraqi provincial town on Tuesday, exploding and killing 25 people, police and witnesses said.

BAGHDAD, 8:00 a.m. Aug. 25 (AP)

Iraq demands deadline for pullout of all U.S. troops: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday no security agreement with the United States could be reached unless it included a “specific deadline” for the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 10:42 a.m. Aug. 24 (AP)

Taliban turns lethal: 101 U.S. deaths in Afghanistan in '08: Taliban insurgents once derided as a ragtag rabble unable to match U.S. troops have transformed into a fighting force – one advanced enough to mount massive conventional attacks and claim American lives at a record pace.

BAGHDAD, 8:09 a.m. Aug. 24 (AP)

Iraq: Shiite cleric killed in shooting ambush: Gunmen in Iraq killed a Shiite cleric and an outspoken critic of sectarian militias in an ambush on a van carrying his wife, mother and sister, police said Sunday.

BAGHDAD, 3:13 a.m. Aug. 23 (AP)

U.S. forces in Iraq release detained APTN cameraman: The U.S. military released a cameraman working for Associated Press Television News without charges on Saturday, after nearly three months in detention.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 8:11 a.m. Aug. 24 (AP)
10 Taliban fighters killed in Afghan clashes: Taliban militants attacked a patrol of U.S.-led coalition troops in northern Afghanistan, while insurgents came under fire by NATO aircraft after attacking an Afghan army outpost in the south. At least 10 militants were killed in the fighting, officials said.

BAGHDAD, 8:10 a.m. Aug. 23 (REUTERS)
VP choice Biden unpopular in Iraq for autonomy plan: Senator Joe Biden may be one of the only U.S. politicians that can get Iraq's feuding Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish politicians to agree. But not in a good way.

KABUL, 6:12 a.m. Aug. 23 (REUTERS)

Afghan president condemns civilian killings: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday condemned a U.S.-led coalition air strike his government says killed 76 civilians, most of them women and children.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 3:14 p.m. Aug. 22 (AP)

U.S.: 30 militants killed in west Afghanistan clash: U.S.-led troops attacked a compound where Taliban leaders were meeting and killed 30 militants, American and Afghan military officials said Friday, but the Interior Ministry said a large number of civilians died. The U.S. said it would investigate.

BAGHDAD, 4:11 p.m. Aug. 21 (AP)

U.S., Iraq close in on deal for pullout of U.S. troops: Iraq and the U.S. pushed close to a deal Thursday setting a course for American combat troops to pull out of major Iraqi cities by next June, with a broader withdrawal from the long and costly war by 2011.

PARIS, 8:12 a.m. Aug. 22 (AP)

French premier proposes vote on Afghanistan troops: France's prime minister has proposed a parliamentary vote on whether to keep French forces in Afghanistan, his office said Friday, as a new poll showed most of his compatriots want the troops pulled out after 10 died in a vicious ambush.

BAGHDAD, 7:19 a.m. Aug. 22 (AP)

Sadrists denounce emerging U.S.-Iraq deal: Several thousand supporters of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr protested Friday against an emerging U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, saying it would turn Iraq into a U.S. colony.

BAGHDAD, 6:32 a.m. Aug. 22 (AP)

Iraqi ex-minister sentenced to death: An Iraqi court has convicted in absentia and sentenced to death a former Sunni culture minister for his role in a 2005 attack on a secular politician that killed the politician's two sons and left him wounded, a judicial spokesman said Friday.

PARIS, 2:31 p.m. Aug. 21 (AP)
French deaths in Afghanistan show rising Taliban: A French patrol marches up a rocky and dusty Afghan mountain pass. Suddenly, Taliban insurgents open fire from front and back, setting off an hours-long gunfight – the deadliest for allied forces in Afghanistan in more than three years.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 9:23 a.m. Aug. 21 (AP)
30 militants die in Afghan battle near ambush site: 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.

BAGHDAD, 7:48 a.m. Aug. 21 (REUTERS)

U.S. military frees Reuters cameraman in Iraq: The U.S. military freed a Reuters television cameraman on Thursday after holding him for three weeks in Iraq without charges.

KABUL, 6:47 a.m. Aug. 21 (REUTERS)

Afghan civilians said killed in U.S.-led air raid: More than a dozen civilians have been killed in an air strike by U.S.-led coalition troops in Afghanistan's eastern province of Laghman, two provincial officials said on Thursday.

BAGHDAD, 12:24 a.m. Aug. 21 (AP)

Al-Qaeda in Iraq says it killed U.S.-allied Sunni: An al-Qaeda in Iraq front organization is claiming responsibility for a suicide attack that killed a U.S.-allied Sunni leader in northern Baghdad on Sunday.

BAGHDAD, 3:18 p.m. Aug. 20 (AP)
Iraq's Sunni politicians angry over arrests: 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.

TEHRAN, 6:33 a.m. Aug. 20 (REUTERS)

Iran hangs man for murder committed when 15: Iran has hanged five people, including a man convicted of a murder he committed when he was 15, a newspaper said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of executions that have drawn international criticism.

BAGHDAD, 4:53 a.m. Aug. 20 (REUTERS)
Turkish troops shell Kurd rebels in N.Iraq – guard: Turkish troops fired a salvo of shells at Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq early on Wednesday, but it was unclear if there were any casualties, an Iraqi border guard said.

BAGHDAD, 4:29 a.m. Aug. 20 (AP)
Iraq to export oil to Lebanon: Iraq and Lebanon plan to sign a series of trade agreements in coming weeks, including one on Iraq exporting oil to Lebanon, the prime ministers of the two countries said Wednesday.

BAGHDAD, 10:51 a.m. Aug. 19 (AP)

Iraqi Sunnis outraged over Diyala raids, arrests: Iraq's largest Sunni party accused government security forces of sectarian bias Tuesday after soldiers arrested a Sunni university president and a Sunni provincial council member northeast of Baghdad.

SUROBI, Afghanistan, 3:19 p.m. Aug. 19 (AP)
Afghan militants kill 10 French, strike at U.S. base: Insurgents mounted two of the biggest attacks in years on Western forces in Afghanistan, killing 10 French soldiers in a mountain ambush and then sending a squad of suicide bombers in a failed assault early Tuesday on a U.S. base near the Pakistan border.

BAGHDAD, 9:00 a.m. Aug. 19 (AP)
Saddam's luxury train to return to service: Iraqi railway officials say Saddam Hussein's personal luxury train will return to service next month.

BAGHDAD, 1:19 a.m. Aug. 18 (AP)

Iraqis bury U.S.-allied Sunni leader after bombing: Mourners fired guns in the air to show their grief Monday at the funeral of a U.S.-allied Sunni leader killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 11:52 a.m. Aug. 18 (AP)

Afghan militant threat shuts down public ceremony: Afghan leaders celebrated Independence Day on Monday with a small ceremony inside a fortified military compound, in marked contrast to the parade and public festivities a year ago and another sign that Taliban militants are bearing down on the government.

WASHINGTON, 10:10 a.m. Aug. 18 (REUTERS)

U.S. says expects militia leaders to return to Iraq: A top U.S. military commander said Monday he expected Shi'ite militia leaders who fled to Iran for training and equipment to return to Iraq soon to try to foment instability.

KHOST, Afghanistan, 7:09 a.m. Aug. 18 (REUTERS)

Taliban suicide bomber kills 10 Afghan civilians: A Taliban suicide bomber rammed an explosives-packed car into the gate of the main U.S. military base in southeastern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 10 civilians as the country observed its Independence Day.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 7:00 a.m. Aug. 17 (AP)

7,000 police secure Kabul amid surge in violence: Afghan police commanders on Sunday ordered 7,000 officers onto the capital's streets, including the country's youngest cadets, to secure Kabul ahead of Independence Day celebrations.

TAL AFAR, Iraq, 10:36 a.m. Aug. 17 (AP)
U.S. drawdown raises security fears in Iraqi city: A series of bombings in this small but strategic northwestern Iraqi city is stoking fears of a return to sectarian conflict here and raising questions about a strategy of handing urban security to Iraqi police.

BAGHDAD, 1:24 p.m. Aug. 16 (AP)

Bombers strike Iraq pilgrims for 3rd straight day: Bombers struck Shiite pilgrims Saturday for a third consecutive day, killing at least three people in the latest in a series of attacks apparently aimed at stoking sectarian tension.

KABUL, 7:48 a.m. Aug. 16 (REUTERS)
More than 90 insurgents killed in Afghanistan: Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces have killed more than 90 militants during several days of fighting in the south of the country this week, the U.S. military and the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 6:15 a.m. Aug. 16 (AP)
Worsening security affecting Afghan aid groups: Deteriorating security in Afghanistan is making it more difficult for aid organizations to carry out their work, the director of a group that lost four workers in a Taliban attack said Saturday.

WASHINGTON, 7:35 a.m. Aug. 15 (AP)

U.S.: Quds, Hezbollah training hit squads in Iran: Iraqi Shiite assassination teams are being trained in at least four locations in Iran by Tehran's elite Quds force and Lebanese Hezbollah and are planning to return to Iraq in the next few months to kill specific Iraqi officials as well as U.S. and Iraqi troops, according to intelligence gleaned from captured militia fighters and other sources in Iraq.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 5:36 a.m. Aug. 15 (AP)

2 Taliban militants bitten by U.S. coalition dogs: U.S. coalition dogs bit two fleeing suspected Taliban militants during an operation in eastern Afghanistan in which a total of eight insurgents were detained, the coalition said Friday.

GENEVA, 4:56 a.m. Aug. 15 (AP)

IOM: life not improving for tent camp Iraqis: The world's migration body said Friday that daily life has improved little for thousands of Iraqis living in tent camps, despite a slowdown in the number of people in Iraq being uprooted.

4:25 p.m. Aug. 14 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Iraq war at 4,141: As of Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008, at least 4,141 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

BAGHDAD, 4:09 p.m. Aug. 14 (AP)

Bomber targets Shiite pilgrims in Iraq, kills 18: A woman suicide bomber struck Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 18 people and wounding scores of others after the government announced new measures to protect worshippers ahead of a major religious festival.

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, 7:21 a.m. Aug. 14 (AP)

Iraq's Talabani had heart surgery, politicians say: Iraq's President Jalal Talabani has undergone heart surgery in a U.S. hospital, two Iraqi Kurdish politicians said Thursday.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba, 8:25 a.m. Aug. 14 (AP)

Pentagon official removed from 2nd Gitmo trial: A Pentagon official who oversees war-crimes trials at Guantanamo Bay has been barred for the second time from participating in a case because of alleged interference.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 6:38 a.m. Aug. 14 (AP)

Afghan blast kills 3 in U.S.-led coalition: An explosion targeting international troops on a foot patrol in southern Afghanistan killed three members of the U.S.-led coalition Thursday, the coalition said.

KABUL, 6:13 a.m. Aug. 14 (REUTERS)

Aid workers review Afghan security after killings: Foreign humanitarian agencies in Afghanistan have restricted staff movements and said on Thursday they are considering suspending operations in some areas after suspected Taliban insurgents killed three women aid workers.

BAGHDAD, 5:55 a.m. Aug. 14 (REUTERS)

U.S. Navy charges camp guards with prisoner assault: Six sailors working as prison camp guards in Iraq face courts martial for abusing detainees, some of whom were sealed in a cell with riot control gas, the U.S. Navy said on Thursday

PUL-E-ALAM, Afghanistan, 3:20 p.m. Aug. 13 (AP)
Taliban ambush kills 3 more Western aid workers: Taliban fighters with assault rifles shredded a U.S. aid group's SUV with dozens of bullets Wednesday, killing three Western women and their Afghan driver amid an escalating militant onslaught against humanitarian workers in Afghanistan.

BAGHDAD, 2:50 p.m. Aug. 13 (AP)
U.S. oil company says it has ended talks with Iraq: A major independent U.S. oil producer said Wednesday that it has ended negotiations with Iraq to develop an oil field.

BISMARCK, N.D., 12:27 a.m. Aug. 13 (AP)
Soldiers working with Afghan farmers to grow wheat: Army National Guard soldiers from farm states are hoping to fight terrorism and grow Afghanistan's farm economy, one legitimate crop at a time.

BAGHDAD, 5:09 p.m. Aug. 12 (AP)

Governor escapes injury in suicide blast: A female suicide bomber blasted an Iraqi convoy north of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing two people but narrowly missing a provincial governor in the second suicide attack by a woman in Diyala province in as many days.

WASHINGTON, 2:07 p.m. Aug. 12 (AP)

Report: Iraq contracts have cost billions: Military contracts in the Iraq theater have cost taxpayers at least $85 billion, and when it comes to providing security, they might not be any cheaper than using military personnel, according to a report released Tuesday.

6:38 p.m. Aug. 11 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan region at 496: As of Monday, Aug. 11, 2008, at least 496 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Aug. 2 at 10 a.m. EDT.

5:32 p.m. Aug. 11 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Iraq war at 4,139: As of Monday, Aug. 11, 2008, at least 4,139 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

BAGHDAD, 1:12 p.m. Aug. 11 (AP)
Iraqi leader gives refugees free flight home: Several hundred Iraqi refugees flew home from Egypt on Monday on the Iraqi prime minister's plane, the first government-organized flight aimed at accelerating the return of Iraqis now that violence has waned.

BAGHDAD, 1:35 p.m. Aug. 11 (AP)
Georgian exit leaves vacuum near Iranian border: The departure of 2,000 Georgian soldiers from Iraq leaves a question mark over the future of a series of checkpoints along smuggling routes near the Iranian border, forcing the U.S. to shuffle units to fill the vacuum.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 2:41 p.m. Aug. 11 (AP)
Kabul bomb kills 3 civilians, wounds NATO soldiers: A suicide bomber rammed his car into a NATO convoy in Kabul on Monday, killing three civilians and wounding at least a dozen people, including some soldiers, officials said. Clashes and an airstrike in the south killed 25 militants and eight civilians held hostage by insurgents.

4:03 p.m. Aug. 10 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Iraq war at 4,139: As of Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, at least 4,139 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

4:04 p.m. Aug. 10 (AP)

U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan region at 496: As of Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, at least 496 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Aug. 2 at 10 a.m. EDT.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 8:52 a.m. Aug. 10 (AP)
Afghan president urges military action in Pakistan: President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that airstrikes carried out in Afghan villages by U.S. and NATO troops are only killing civilians and that the international community should instead go after terror centers in Pakistan.

BAGHDAD, 6:40 a.m. Aug. 10 (AP)
Iraq to revive oil deal with China: Iraq and China are set to revive a $1.2 billion oil deal that was canceled after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the Iraq's oil ministry said Sunday.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 5:40 a.m. Aug. 9 (AP)
Afghan official says 20 militants killed in west: About 20 Taliban fighters were killed in a battle with Afghan and U.S.-led forces near a key military supply route in western Afghanistan, a provincial official said Saturday.

BAGHDAD, 2:21 p.m. Aug. 8 (AP)
Shiite militia to become religious, cultural body: Anti-U.S. Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered most of his militiamen Friday to lay down their arms, and his spokesman said the young cleric might call off all resistance if the Americans accept a timetable to leave Iraq.

WASHINGTON, 10:48 a.m. Aug. 8 (AP)

Gates endorses big expansion of Afghan army: Defense Secretary Robert Gates has endorsed a new five-year, $17 billion plan to increase the size of the Afghan army by about 50,000 troops.

WASHINGTON, 10:18 a.m. Aug. 8 (AP)

U.S. weighs stepped-up military forays into Pakistan: Top Bush administration officials are pressing the president to direct U.S. troops in Afghanistan to be more aggressive in pursuing militants into Pakistan on foot as part of a proposed radical shift in regional counterterrorism strategy, The Associated Press has learned.

WASHINGTON, 8:26 p.m. Aug. 7 (AP)

Gates endorses big expansion of Afghan army: Defense Secretary Robert Gates has endorsed an Afghanistan government proposal to increase the size of the Afghan army by more than 50,000 troops.

BAGHDAD, 7:25 a.m. Aug. 8 (AP)

Iraq resumes oil exploration after long halt: Iraq resumed oil exploration Friday after two decades in an attempt to determine whether more oil reserves lie beneath its territory, an Oil Ministry official said.

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, 7:10 a.m. Aug. 8 (REUTERS)

Security developments in Iraq: Following are security developments in Iraq at 1400 GMT on Friday. {PI:84} denotes new or updated item.

BAGHDAD, 3:40 p.m. Aug. 7 (AP)

Iraqis: U.S., Iraq close to deal on troop withdrawal: Iraq and the U.S. are near an agreement on all American combat troops leaving Iraq by October 2010, with the last soldiers out three years after that, two Iraqi officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. U.S. officials, however, insisted no dates had been agreed.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 2:21 p.m. Aug. 7 (AP)
American deaths in Afghanistan war reach 500: The deadliest three months for American forces in Afghanistan have pushed the U.S. death toll to at least 500, forcing a war long overshadowed by Iraq back into the headlines.

BAGHDAD, 8:37 a.m. Aug. 7 (AP)

Iraq to upgrade Samawah oil refinery: Iraq's Cabinet has approved a multimillion dollar contract to upgrade an oil refinery in southern Iraq, a senior oil ministry official said Thursday.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba, 7:46 a.m. Aug. 7 (AP)

Bin Laden driver seeks leniency from Gitmo jury: Salim Hamdan pleaded with a military jury on Thursday to spare him from a life in prison, saying he worked as Osama bin Laden's driver because he needed a job.

BAGHDAD, 7:00 a.m. Aug. 7 (AP)

Iraqi cleric links truce, U.S. withdrawal timetable: Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will call on his fighters to maintain a cease-fire against American troops but may lift the order if a planned Iraq-U.S. security agreement lacks a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces, a spokesman said Thursday.

BAGHDAD, 2:41 p.m. Aug. 6 (AP)

U.S. officials defend Iraq's oil-fed budget surplus: Iraq is paying for more of its own reconstruction but is still struggling to spend its multibillion-dollar surplus as it copes with a flood of oil revenue and a cumbersome approval process meant to curb corruption, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

BAGHDAD, 4:48 p.m. Aug. 6 (AP)
Iraqi election bill falls to ethnic rivalry: Iraqi lawmakers failed Wednesday to agree on a provincial election law and adjourned for the month, casting doubt whether U.S.-backed balloting can be held this year in the country's 18 provinces.

BAGHDAD, 3:21 p.m. Aug. 6 (AP)
U.S. military works to keep out Iraq militia leaders: Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen who fled U.S.-Iraqi operations in Baghdad hope to return, but the U.S. military is confident they won't receive a warm homecoming, officials said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, 3:27 p.m. Aug. 6 (AP)
Roadside bombs now less sophisticated, more vexing: Roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan have gotten less sophisticated and as a result harder for troops to find or avoid, a military official said Wednesday.

KABUL, Afghanistan, 8:18 a.m. Aug. 6 (AP)
Afghanistan accusing Pakistan of aiding insurgents: Afghanistan's spy agency alleged Wednesday that a Pakistani consulate official directed and funded terrorist activities carried out by a Taliban commander.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba, 7:38 a.m. Aug. 6 (AP)

Military jury convicts bin Laden's driver: A jury of six military officers at Guantanamo Bay reached a split verdict Wednesday in the war crimes trial of a former driver for Osama bin Laden, clearing him of some charges but convicting him of others that could send him to prison for life.

WASHINGTON, 7:14 p.m. Aug. 5 (AP)

GAO: Iraq could have $79 billion budget surplus: The Iraqi government could end the year with as much as a $79 billion budget surplus as ever-increasing oil revenues pile on top of leftover income the Iraqis still haven't spent on their national rebuilding effort, congressional auditors say.

FORT BRAGG, N.C., 1:30 p.m. Aug. 5 (AP)
Soldier may face murder charge in Afghan death: Army prosecutors said Tuesday they plan to seek a murder charge aga