BAGHDAD  – Iraq will send Syria its first ambassador since around the time Saddam Hussein became president in 1979, a government official said Wednesday. Alaa al-Jawadi would leave Wednesday to become Iraq’s new envoy in Damascus, Mohammed al-Haj Hamoud, Iraq’s deputy foreign minister, told Reuters. Last October Damascus posted its …

BRUSSELS  – A reported Russian move to halt deployment of Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad would be a good step if confirmed, NATO said on Wednesday. “The earlier Russian announcement that they were going to deploy missiles into Kaliningrad and point them at NATO allies was unwelcome. If that decision has …

NAZRAN, Russia  – A new president in Russia’s mainly Muslim Ingushetia region has taken the heat out of a simmering rebellion by restoring some trust in the regional authorities. Although violence still scars Ingushetia, residents say it has decreased since Yunus-Bek Yevkurov replaced former secret police officer Murat Zyazikov in …