The talks could cement the legacy of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as a diplomat, or pose risks to any political ambitions she may harbor.

The security firm created shell companies to obtain U.S. contracts after it was criticized for its conduct in Iraq, investigators said.

A belief by Westerners that Afghans expect misrule and malfeasance could make Afghans’ contempt for their leaders as much a threat as the Taliban.

Many Palestinian and Israeli commentators described this week’s talks in Washington as mere political theater.

The country, which had sought to allow religious figures a greater role in public life, has reversed course.

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said that he would not hand over all information relevant to the killing of Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency asked Israel last month to consider signing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Iranian opposition activists have started a new satellite TV channel, RASA TV, from Belgium as an alternative to Iran’s increasingly state-controlled media.

The U.N. refugee agency called on European governments to halt deportations of Iraqis, after what it said was at least the third coordinated round of forced returns since April.

The government of Abu Dhabi, with the help of a German consultant, is working on a plan to extend its emergency freshwater reserves from 48 hours to 90 days.

Middle East negotiators agreed to keep talking, but the issue of West Bank settlements threatens to derail the negotiations.

Simon Wiesenthal, who ran a one-man Nazi-hunting operation, worked for Israel’s spy agency, a new biography claims.

Thirteen militant groups in Gaza vowed Thursday to step up attacks on Israeli targets to foil peace negotiations.

Some veteran peace process practitioners say Israel and the Palestinians should first aim for a partial solution because the gaps between the positions are too wide.

Attackers smashed windows and damaged security cameras at the home of Mehdi Karroubi a day before a rally that the authorities worry might reignite antigovernment protests.

Marking the formal end of combat operations, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said history would judge if the war was worth it.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates inaugurated the post-combat phase.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority appeared together with President Obama.

Palestinian troops rounded up dozens of men suspected of ties to Hamas as Israeli settlers held a mass funeral for two women and two men who were shot dead in their car on Tuesday night.

The Israeli prime minister believes that only someone like himself, with his hawkish credentials, has the will and support to produce lasting peace with the Palestinians.

A dance squad from Ukraine, known as the Red Foxes, was pulled to avoid performing in front of Turkish government officials, but no one can agree as to why.

The United States easily beat Iran at the FIBA world championships in a game that was overshadowed by a political rivalry.

The killing of four Israeli settlers on the eve of peace talks in Washington underscored the role the issue of Jewish settlements could play in the fragile negotiations.

Many of the same complaints about daily life are heard now as in 2003, when the United States invasion transformed the political life of the nation.

President Obama is looking for simultaneous progress on Iraq, Iran and Israeli-Palestinian peace, a triple play that has eluded his predecessors for decades.

The Taliban singled out the texts for destruction because anatomical depictions of the human body were considered blasphemous.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. arrived in Baghdad to commemorate the official end of the United States combat mission.

A quest to confirm the death of a loved one — a son, husband, father and brother — took years, along with courage and luck.

The president will speak to the nation from the Oval Office Tuesday night about one of the central promises of his campaign: withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq.

Some see encouraging signs about a two-state solution in improved security and governance by Palestinians.

The show "Put Him in [Camp] Bucca" has drawn protests but has stayed on air throughout Ramadan, broadcasting pranks on Iraqi celebrities.

The third phase, from the end of 2016 to the end of 2020, is the "completion phase" by which time the Iraqi army will be a "real power," able to deal not only with internal, but also external threats.

In the Cemetery of the Martyrs of the Army of the Imam Mahdi, death is not mourned. The men here have died as martyrs, and sacrifice is exalted.

An aviation security loophole that remains unclosed: not all of the cargo loaded onto passenger jets that fly into the United States from abroad is screened.

An Iranian newspaper with close ties to the country's leader has called Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a "prostitute" who "deserves to die" for to joining a campaign to save the life of an Iranian woman sentenced to die by stoning.

From Taiwan to Abu Dhabi to Afghanistan, there is anecdotal evidence that attention is being paid to the furious debate over mosque-building projects in American cities.