World - McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD— Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Iraq Thursday in an effort to convince Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to consent to an agreement governing the conduct of U.S. forces in Iraq that will be needed when the U.N. mandate for U.S. military operations in Iraq expires at the end of this year.

VIENNA, Austria— European security officials think that a cease-fire agreement between Russia and Georgia, brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is so vaguely worded that Russia can argue that it's fulfilling its obligations under the pact, even if it doesn't withdraw troops to the positions they held before fighting broke out Aug. 7.

WASHINGTON— Ever wonder why it's so much easier to remember people's faces than their names?

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan— A twin suicide bombing Thursday killed at least 60 people at a military ordnance factory north of Islamabad, part of a surge in Islamic extremist violence that comes as the government teeters on the brink of collapse.

GORI, Georgia— After more than a week of Russian troops occupying his town, Kishvardi Taturashvili said the time for resistance was drawing near.

WASHINGTON— For the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the United States is contemplating a Russia that has used military force against a neighbor and wondering what, if anything, it must do to counter it.

BAGHDAD— A key pillar of the U.S. strategy to pacify Iraq is in danger of collapsing because the Iraqi government is failing to absorb tens of thousands of former Sunni Muslim insurgents who'd joined U.S.-allied militia groups into the country's security forces.

BAGHDAD— The U.S. military on Wednesday denounced a chaotic raid conducted by an Iraqi special forces unit Tuesday morning that killed an Iraqi government employee and sparked a gunfight with police in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.

WARSAW, Poland— The United States will deploy anti-missile interceptors, upgrade Poland's air defenses and modernize its military under two agreements signed Wednesday.

WASHINGTON— The Bush White House and the Pentagon are at odds over whether to station a Navy ship in the Black Sea to demonstrate U.S. support for the embattled Georgian military and government, two defense officials told McClatchy Tuesday.

WASHINGTON— The United States and its European allies have condemned Russia for its incursion in Georgia, but their options for retaliating against the Kremlin are limited.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi forces raided the provincial government compound in Diyala Province in a chaotic operation early Tuesday, killing the governor's secretary and seizing computers and cars before local police engaged them in a two-hour gun battle, police and local officials said.

BRUSSELS, Belgium— NATO declared Tuesday that it cannot have normal relations with Russia while its troops occupy large parts of Georgia, but alliance foreign ministers failed to terminate any cooperative programs.

BRUSSELS, Belgium— Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Monday ruled out accelerating Georgia's admission to NATO in response to the Russian invasion. But she warned Moscow that it is playing "a very dangerous game" by resuming Cold War-era strategic bomber patrols close to the Alaskan coast.

ISLAMABAD— Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf bowed to domestic and international pressure and quit Monday, but his departure could trigger further instability for the nuclear-armed U.S. ally if the country's fractious coalition government can't hold together without its common enemy.

IGOETI, Georgia_ Despite assurances that it would withdraw troops from Georgia starting Monday, the Russian military operated with impunity as its forces moved convoys in and out of the city of Gori and plowed through a police roadblock in this town some 25 miles northwest of Tbilisi, the capital.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan— The showdown between President Pervez Musharraf and the Pakistan government is set to climax this week, with Musharraf under intense pressure to quit before the formal start of impeachment proceedings that would plunge the U.S. ally into further political turmoil.

TSKHINVALI, Georgia_ As Russian troops pounded through Georgia last week, the Kremlin and its allies repeatedly pointed to one justification above all others: The Georgian military had destroyed the city of Tskhinvali.

ALEOSON, Philippines -- A renegade force of Muslim rebels began slipping into the villages near Aleoson in late June. By the time they were pushed out last week in three days of bloody fighting, the rebels had razed at least 50 houses, pilfered livestock and rubbed emotions raw between Christians and Muslims, according to residents and the Philippines military.

ZUGDIDI, Georgia— Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday that troops would begin to withdraw from neighboring Georgia on Monday but signaled that forces would continue to occupy the breakaway province at the center of the 10-day-old conflict.

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GORI, Georgia— On the same day that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced he had signed a ceasefire with Georgia, his military reportedly blew up a key railroad bridge and continued to occupy fighting positions along the main road to the capital.

WASHINGTON— President Bush declared Friday that the United States and its allies "stand with the people" of war-torn Georgia against Russian "bullying and intimidation." He then left Washington for a 10-day vacation at his Texas ranch.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan— Negotiations between the Pakistani government and President Pervez Musharraf, aimed at securing his resignation before impeachment, are stalling, with only days left before proceedings begin in parliament, according to politicians involved in the talks.

TBILISI, Georgia— Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday persuaded Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to sign a cease-fire agreement calling for Russian tanks to withdraw from much of the country.

KIEV, Ukraine— Russia's invasion of Georgia has unsettled this former Soviet republic, which like Georgia has applied for membership in NATO but now fears that the U.S. could do little to prevent similar Russian action here.

WASHINGTON— There's no soul-gazing anymore between George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin.

WASHINGTON— President Bush Wednesday promised that U.S. naval forces would deliver humanitarian aid to war-torn Georgia before his administration had received approval from Turkey, which controls naval access to the Black Sea, or the Pentagon had planned a seaborne operation, U.S. officials said Thursday.