IRAQ

The former Pennsylvania senator, who surged back into relevancy with wins in Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota, has worked to position himself as the social values-centric conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. But he has also articulated a muscular foreign policy vision centered on his belief that radical Islam, particularly the Iranian regime, poses a dire threat to American security.

Prince Charles led global celebrations on Tuesday marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, a titan of English literature whose vivid stories confronted the injustices of Victorian life.

The State Department plans to drastically reduce the size of its diplomatic mission in Iraq, a decision that reflects America's sharply diminished influence in the absence of troops.

Lawyers for a U.S. Marine court-martialed for his role in killing Iraqi civilians in Haditha slammed the international hacking collective Anonymous as cowards on Monday after they knocked out the firm's website and published internal e-mails on the web.

Bradley Manning has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Icelandic MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir for his contribution to WikiLeaks.

Diversified manufacturer Honeywell International Inc said it expects sales at its defense and space business to fall by 4 percent to 5 percent this year as the United States pares back its military spending.

An Iraq war veteran already accused in the serial killings of four Orange County transients was charged on Monday with two more murders -- the October stabbing deaths of a high school friend's mother and brother.

Syrian and Libyan demonstrators hurled rocks, eggs and tomatoes at the Chinese embassy in Tripoli on Monday, after Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution backing an Arab plan urging Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to give up power.

Syrian regime forces continued bombarding the rebellious city of Homs Monday, killing 50 more people in a sustained assault on several districts, the Syrian National Council opposition group said.

Comedian Roseanne Barr wasn't joking when she announced her presidential bid on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last August, and recently filed paperwork to run in the Green Party primary in July.

Syrian forces bombarded Homs on Monday, killing 50 people in a sustained assault on several districts of the city which has become a centre of armed opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian National Council opposition group said.

President Barack Obama said Sunday that Israel has not yet decided how to respond to concerns about Iran's nuclear program and said there was no evidence that Iran has the intentions or capabilities to wage attacks on U.S. soil.

Among the slick, million-dollar ads airing during the Super Bowl this Sunday, viewers in New York and Boston will see a far more modest spot. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will be sitting on a couch touting an issue most politicians avoid like the plague: gun control.

Three years ago Gabe Collins was on the front line in Kandahar province, one of the most dangerous places in war-ravaged Afghanistan, conducting search and rescue missions with the U.S. Navy.

Britain's Supreme Court risks jeopardizing extraditions to many neighboring countries if it stops WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange being sent to Sweden for questioning over sex crimes, a lawyer for Swedish prosecutors argued Thursday.

President Barack Obama confirmed that the U.S. has been using drones to strike Taliban and al-Qaeda targets within Pakistan.

Controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be a guest character and voice on animated TV comedy The Simpsons, playing a neighbor of the family after they move from their home in fictional Springfield.

President Barack Obama Monday played down the use of U.S. drones in Iraq, saying the program was very limited and focused mainly on protecting the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

An Occupy Oakland protest once again spiraled into mass arrests and property destruction on Saturday, underscoring the city's reputation for hosting some of the most tumultuous and occasionally violent demonstrations of the Occupy movement. That volatility reflects both the tactics used by Occupy Oakland and the Oakland Police Department's tendency to resort to heavy handed enforcement.

The Occupy movement resurged from a relatively quiet winter after about 400 people were arrested in Oakland over the weekend.

Although honor killings are typically associated with Muslim countries like Turkey, Iraq and especially Pakistan, the practice has nothing to do with Islam