Russia’s parliamentary election is off and running. Polls are now open in five time zones in the country’s eastern regions, including Chukotka, Kamchatka and the port city of Vladivostok on the Pacific coast. 11 parties are competing for 450 State Duma seats.

In a stunning turnaround, Afghanistan is now a more dangerous place for U.S. troops than Iraq. The death rate for U.S. troops in Afghanistan is now nearly twice the rate for those in Iraq, according to an analysis by ABC News.

THE man who devised the Bush administration’s Iraq troop surge has urged the US to consider sending elite troops to Pakistan to seize its nuclear weapons if the country descends into chaos.