TEHRAN, Iran — It seemed a clockwork killing: Motorcycle riders flashed by and attached a magnetic bomb onto a car carrying a nuclear scientist working at Iran’s main uranium enrichment facility. By the time the blast tore apart the silver Peugeot, the bike was blocks away, weaving through Tehran traffic after what Iran calls the latest strike in an escalating covert war.
BEIRUT — In his first speech since June, Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed Tuesday to respond to threats against him with an “iron hand” and refused to step down, insisting he still has his people’s support despite a 10-month-old revolt.
BEIRUT — In the largest protests Syria has seen in months, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets Friday in a display of defiance to show an Arab League observer mission the strength of the opposition movement.
LAGOS, Nigeria — Terror attacks across Nigeria by a radical Muslim sect killed at least 39 people, with the majority dying on the steps of a Catholic church after celebrating Christmas Mass as blood pooled in dust from a massive explosion.
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Koreans marched by the thousands Monday to their capital’s landmarks to mourn Kim Jong Il, many crying uncontrollably and flailing their arms in grief over the death of their “Dear Leader.”
The United States is poised to announce a significant donation of food aid to North Korea this week, the first concrete accomplishment after months of behind-the-scenes diplomatic contacts between the two wartime enemies. An agreement by North Korea to suspend its controversial uranium enrichment program will likely follow within days.
WASHINGTON — Eager to put the long and divisive Iraq war to rest, President Barack Obama declared Monday “those days are over” with the last American troops heading home, but he pledged the U.S. would remain committed to the fledgling government they leave behind. He and Iraq’s leader somberly saluted America’s war dead at Arlington National Cemetery.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — The hard-fought deal at a global climate conference in South Africa keeps talks alive but doesn’t address the core problem: The world’s biggest carbon polluters aren’t willing to cut emissions of greenhouse gases enough to stave off dangerous levels of global warming.