American military successes in Iraq have prompted well-trained ?foreign fighters? to join the insurgency in Afghanistan instead, the Afghan defense minister said.

U.S. military successes in Iraq have prompted well-trained "foreign fighters" to join the insurgency in Afghanistan instead.

The Pentagon on Tuesday said it was confident the U.S. and Iraqi governments would agree to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after December 31, but did not say a deal would necessarily fall under a formal long-term framework.

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- The head of a dog-lover's group says she'll head to Iraq this week to pick up a motley collection of dogs and cats adopted by U.S. troops.

Turkish officials on Tuesday pressed the president of Iraq's Kurdish enclave to crack down on the Kurdish separatists launching cross-border attacks from their Iraqi mountain sanctuaries.

( University of Leicester ) University of Leicester academic in Iraq for National Conference on Mental Health.

A Tennessee college student has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly hacking into the e-mail account of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Iraq's senior Kurdish leader met with Turkish officials Tuesday in Baghdad, a news agency reported, in a Turkish bid to encourage Iraqi Kurds to crack down on Kurdish guerrillas launching attacks in Turkey from sanctuaries in Iraq.

There is a critical need for Iraq and Britain to reach an agreement in the next few weeks to allow remaining British troops to stay in Iraq beyond the end of 2008, a Foreign Office minister said today, during a visit to Baghdad.

The Washington Post says negotiators are growing nervous about the lack of an agreement on the role U.S. troops will play in Iraq after the United Nations mandate expires at the end of the year. Without legal authorization, the paper says U.S. troops may have to cease all combat operations on New Year's Day. "One possibility is an extension of the United Nations mandate that expires at the end ...

BAGHDAD, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Efforts by officials to reach a new "status of forces" agreement governing U.S. troops in Iraq probably won't be reached by a year-end deadline, observers say.

An agreement to allow British troops to continue in Iraq is "critical", a Foreign Office minister says.

An agreement to allow British troops to continue in Iraq is "critical", a Foreign Office minister says.

It is critical for Iraq to reach an agreement in the next few weeks permitting British troops to stay in the country after a U.N. mandate expires at the end of this year, a British Foreign Office minister said Tuesday.

A senior aide to Iraq's Kurdish leader says the politician plans to meet a Turkish delegation in Baghdad. The meeting later on Tuesday will be the first direct talks in four years between Turkey and the Kurdish region's president, Massoud Barzani. Tensions are high after Kurdish rebels killed 17 Turkish soldiers on the Turkey-Iraq border on October 3. Kurdish authorities condemned the attack. ...

A senior aide to Iraq's Kurdish leader says the politician plans to meet a Turkish delegation in Baghdad.

Egypt will step up its presence in Iraq as the situation there stabilises but building ties with the Baghdad government will take time, Egypt's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Top U.S. policymakers are declaring victory in Iraq and switching their focus to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where Islamist violence continues to surge following the fall of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Gov. Rod Blagojevich is continuing to play political games with legislation aimed at saving 11 endangered state parks and frontline family services, says State Sen. Gary Dahl.

CHICAGO - Local governments in seven Illinois counties hit by severe flooding in September could recoup some flood-related expenses if a state request for federal assistance is approved.