Pakistan braced for more militant attacks ahead of an anticipated offensive against a Taliban stronghold, as the insurgents said they bombed a U.N. relief agency because international aid work was not in "the interest of Muslims." The suicide bombing Monday at the World Food Program headquarters in Islamabad killed five people, prompting the U.N. to temporarily shut all its offices across the country. U.N. humanitarian chief John ...Read More

President Obama told Congressional leaders on Tuesday that he would not substantially reduce American forces in Afghanistan or shift the mission to just hunting terrorists there, but he indicated that he remained undecided about the major troop buildup proposed by his commanding general. Meeting with leaders from both parties at the White House, Mr. Obama seemed to be searching for ...Read More

Australia's first female Nobel prizewinner Elizabeth Blackburn is an inspiration to all young people, Acting Science Minister Craig Emerson told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday. "Her scientific research is incredibly valuable to the human race ... it offers the prospect of going further down the path of dealing with debilitating diseases which so far have defeated scientific research," Emerson said. "It is a great day for Australian ...Read More

The Supreme Court began its new term Monday with an inquisitive new justice and a case from Maryland about how long police must honor a suspect's request for an attorney. Justice Sonia Sotomayor displayed no reticence on the first day of her first term on the court; in the two cases on the docket, she asked as many questions and made as many comments as Chief ...Read More

Brazil's Human Development Index (HDI) rose from 0.808 in 2006 to 0.813 in 2007 and ranked 75th on the list released by the UN Development Program (UNDP) on Monday. The HDI goes from zero to one. The higher figures, the higher human development levels of a nation. Since Brazil's HDI is between 0.8 and 0.9, Brazil was considered a country with elevated human development levels. Despite its ...Read More

US President Barack Obama will confront a building political storm over Afghanistan on Tuesday, as he talks through his dilemma over future war strategy with leading figures in Congress. Obama is under intense pressure to offer lawmakers of both parties more detail on his evolving internal review of Afghanistan policy, as debate heats up on the unpopular war following a ...Read More

The scuffle between two pilots and two cabin crew on board Indian Airlines IC-884 from Sharjah to Delhi via Lucknow on Saturday escalated further on the ground a day later. Even as AI management took written statements from the four crew and an airline engineer who happened to be on the flight as an independent witness, the pilots were learnt ...Read More

Pakistan has mobilized enough forces and equipment to launch a long awaited ground offensive against Taliban militants in their South Waziristan stronghold near the Afghan border, U.S. defense officials said on Sunday. Washington sees a concerted push by Pakistan to eliminate Taliban and al Qaeda "sanctuaries" in its territory as the key to turning around a faltering U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. Pakistan has cited shortages of helicopters, ...Read More

Grief-stricken Samoans have poured into churches to mourn the victims of the devastating tsunami that killed more than 170 people in their nation and surrounding Pacific islands. About 600 people packed into the Congregational Christian Church in Lalomanu on Sunday, one of the worst-hit villages on the south coast of Upolu, the more heavily populated of the country's two main islands. Lalomanu village chief Tavaga Failauga Gase ...Read More

Shoichi Nakagawa, the former Japanese finance minister who resigned after appearing to be drunk at an international meeting this year, was found dead Sunday. Mr. Nakagawa, 56, was found in his bedroom early Sunday, the Tokyo police said. The cause of his death was under investigation. A Tokyo native with boyish looks and a sharp tongue, Mr. Nakagawa was an ...Read More