AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan has released its first list of protected wildlife that can no longer be hunted or harvested. 32 species are on the initial list, with conservationists hoping to list 70 species by the end of the year.

As the United States pours troops into Afghanistan and boosts its role in the NATO force's command structure, Washington is trying to reassure its allies that it still wants the war to be a joint effort.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved tripling U.S. aid to Pakistan to about $1.5 billion a year for each of the next five years in a key part of a strategy to combat extremism with economic and social development.

A prominent anti-Taliban Muslim cleric who condemned suicide bombings was killed on Friday in a suicide attack in the Pakistani city of Lahore, police said.

NATO ministers have backed a U.S. shake-up of military command in Afghanistan based on a model used in Iraq, as well as plans to step up training of Afghan security forces, a NATO spokesman said on Friday.

NATO nations agreed on Thursday to cut their 10-year-old peacekeeping operation in Kosovo from around 14,000 troops to 10,000 in coming months, with further reductions planned if security allows.

Barack Obama has presented a fresh understanding of Islam not shown by predecessors, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in his first interview since the U.S. president addressed the Muslim world from Cairo.

A plaque on the wall of the guard booth at the gate of the Pearl Continental Hotel in the Pakistani city of Peshawar reads: This hotel is protected by latest security system.

As the economic crisis squeezes U.S. government budgets and priorities shift beyond defense, the world's top defense contractors will likely turn to acquisitions to ensure they can keep growing.

In 1943, at the height of World War Two, Britain had little left in the bank but still spent 50 percent of gross domestic product on defense. To win the war, there was little other choice.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has urged Kyrgyzstan to abandon plans to shut a U.S. military air base used to support operations in Afghanistan, a senior Kyrgyz official said on Saturday.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday marked the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings on France's Normandy beaches, an important World War Two breakthrough in the battle against Nazi Germany.

President Barack Obama sought to change Muslim perceptions of the United States on Thursday in a speech that urged Arabs and Israelis to declare in public the realities he said they accept in private.

President Barack Obama called for a new beginning in relations between the United States and the Muslim world Thursday, addressing grievances over the Arab-Israeli conflict, two U.S.-led wars and tensions over Iran.

President Barack Obama called for a new beginning between the United States and Muslims Thursday, in a speech delivered at Cairo University.

President Barack Obama called for a new beginning between the United States and Muslims Thursday, and called on both societies to start a new relationship bringing an end to the cycle of suspicion and discord.”

U.S. President Barack Obama will urge Arabs and Israelis to say publicly what they acknowledge in private about Middle East peace moves and Iran when he speaks to the Muslim world on Thursday.

The U.S. general nominated to take charge of the war in Afghanistan pledged on Tuesday to try to minimize civilian casualties even as U.S.-led forces step up operations against insurgents.

President Barack Obama met Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh on Wednesday ahead of a much-heralded speech in Cairo the U.S. leader hopes will help refurbish America's tarnished image in the Islamic world.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated Republican congressman John McHugh as secretary of the Army, the latest move to tap an opposition party member for the Democratic administration's top ranks.

Pakistani soldiers Tuesday rescued scores of students and staff from a military-run college who were abducted by Taliban militants in the northwest of the country, a military spokesman said.