Middle East

Afghanistan's president is taking strong issue with claims he is not doing enough to curtail production of opium, the raw material for heroin.

Photos published by a British newspaper showing the jailed former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein wearing just his underwear continue to draw mixed reactions from Iraqis.

A statement issued by the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq says it is 'aggressively' investigating who took the pictures and how they were made public.

Troubled by Iran's declaration that it plans to resume nuclear activities, U.S. lawmakers are considering how to respond.

Spokesman says Newsweek can do that by writing about how it got story wrong and by publicizing practices of US military when it comes to handling Koran.

Italians are experiencing new feelings of fear and anguish following the kidnapping of a young aid worker in Afghanistan.

Muslims in both countries say they still believe US soldiers in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, abused copies of Islam's holy book in bid to get terror suspects to talk.

Earlier today, the bodies of 12 Iraqi men killed execution style were found in northeast Baghdad. In all, 46 bound and bullet-riddled bodies have been found at four sites in the country since Saturday.

Report sparked violent protests in countries including Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

Secretary of state praises constitutional process for including all main ethnic and religious groups.

The magazine said they had made a mistake on reporting the accusations of the May 9th report, which led to violent anti-US protests in Afghanistan.

US officials confirm deaths of nine Marines in operation and capture of 39 insurgents who have what they called "intelligence value".

Mr. Annan said Friday he is concentrating now on essential United Nations reforms, and that he does not expect questions about his past activities to derail that process. However, he added, "For some, the oil-for-food crisis will never die down."

PM Tony Blair says United Nations should consider sanctions against Iran if it resumes conversion of uranium ore.

According to the Senate's year-long investigation, Iraqi oil ministry documents show that former French interior minister Charles Pasqua got 11 million barrels in oil allocations and British lawmaker George Galloway got 20 million barrels.