IRAQ

On the coming Wednesday, President Obama will announce the details of his plan to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan next month, according to administration officials.

President Obama plans to speak on the future of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan on Wednesday, senior administration officials said Monday.

Even as police are investigating if a 22-year-old military man arrested near the Pentagon in suspicious circumstances belonged to any jihadi network or was acting alone, the focus has turned to the old debate of Muslim personnel’s role in the US military.

A Lance Corporal Marine Corps reservist was taken into custody on Friday after it was established that he was the person dubiously spotted near the Pentagon and had parked his car in the bushes nearby.

Intelligence officials, prodded by the Bush White House, sought personal information that they could use to damage the reputation of an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, a former Central Intelligence Agency official told the New York Times.

Like many young people hungry for change in the Middle East, 21-year-old student Meran Mubarak is embracing social media as fast as telecommunications advances allow in his Iraqi Kurdistan homeland.

The government is renewing investigations into two cases that could indicate serious lapses in the Central Intelligence Agency's methods of detaining and questioning terror suspects, the Associated Press reported.

Gunmen stormed a provincial government headquarter in Baqubah, in Iraq's Diyala province

Turkey's efforts in improving ties with its neighbors in the Middle East over the past decade may witness a challenge in the unabated unrest in Syria that may force a rethinking of its foreign policy, now that Sunday's election is out of the way.

Auditors investigating the disappearance of $6.6 billion in cash intended to rebuild Iraq's shattered infrastructure told the Los Angeles Times that the money may have been stolen.

Leon Panetta has warned Senate members that he is concerned that Libyan rebel forces may include some extremist groups.

CIA director Leon Panetta said Thursday that American troops will likely remain in Iraq beyond a 2011 deadline and parried questions about Afghanistan during his confirmation hearing for Secretary of Defense today.

OPEC just had a meeting that failed to produce any agreement. Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer of the cartel, admitted it was one of the worst meetings in OPEC history.

OPEC talks broke down in acrimony Wednesday without an agreement to raise output after Saudi Arabia failed to convince the oil cartel to lift production.

OPEC talks broke down in acrimony on Wednesday without an agreement to raise output after Saudi Arabia failed to convince the cartel to lift production.

OPEC producers worked at a deal on Wednesday to raise oil supplies for the first time in four years to support the fragile world economy.

OPEC producers on Wednesday hammered out a deal to raise oil supplies for the first time in four years to support the fragile world economy.

Saudi Arabia faced resistance on Wednesday from OPEC producers opposed to an increase in oil supplies that may help ease crude prices.

Data storage firm EMC Ltd has offered to replace millions of potentially compromised SecurID electronic keys after hackers used data stolen from its RSA security division to break into Lockheed Martin's network.

iRobot Corp, whose products clean homes and disarm bombs in war zones, expects to see better growth overseas this year as the United States, its domestic market, keeps a tight rein on spending.

Former South Korean Ban Ki-moon has asked for the support of UN Security Council for his candidacy for a second five-year term as U.N. secretary-general.