Search results for

Iraqis waved flags and honked horns as U.S. troops officially withdrew from cities and towns across the country Tuesday in what Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dubbed a "National Sovereignty Day" public holiday, more than six years after American forces invaded to oust Saddam Hussein from power.

Everyone in Washington has an opinion about what has gone on in Iran and what U.S. policy should be in response. But the real experts say no one really knows what is going on, least of all U.S. intelligence analysts who have few reliable assets on the ground.

North Korea accused Washington of seeking to "provoke a second Korean War" as the regime prepared to hold maritime military exercises off the eastern coast. U.S. and regional authorities were watching closely for signs that North Korea might fire short- or mid-range missiles during the June 25 to July 10 timeframe cited in a no-sail ban for military drills sent to Japan's Coast Guard.

Iran's supreme leader said Wednesday that the government would not give in to pressure over the disputed presidential election, effectively closing the door to compromise with the opposition. Iran also said it was considering downgrading ties with Britain, which it has accused of spying and fomenting days of unprecedented street protests over the vote.

Myanmar is a place of misery for many of its citizens. The repressive, often brutal military rulers of the country see to that. Political dissent isn't tolerated. And neither, it seems, is the country's ethnic Muslim minority, known as the Rohingya. NPR's Michael Sullivan offers this personal look at their plight.

Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters poured into the streets in Tehran on Thursday, nearly a week after a disputed election returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power in what officials said was a landslide victory over his reformist rival.

More than 200 years after a British diplomat arranged to have large sculptures from the Parthenon shipped to Britain, author Christopher Hitchens says the objects should now be returned. A new state-of-the-art museum in Athens wants them, but officials at the British Museum plan to hold on to one of their most famous collections.

Administration officials say Middle East expert Dennis Ross could move soon from the State Department to the White House. The move would signal that the administration is aiming for a more unified strategy on Iran and the entire Middle East.

Iranians packed polling stations from boutique-lined streets in north Tehran to conservative bastions Friday to choose between keeping hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power or replacing him with a reformist who favors greater freedoms and improved ties with the United States.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson has successfully negotiated the release of political prisoners on more than one occasion, including the 1999 release of U.S. soldiers held hostage in Kosovo. And the civil rights leader says he is willing to now engage in delicate diplomacy with North Korea to secure the release of two U.S. journalists recently convicted of illegally entering the country.