US Secretary of State John Kerry affirmed here Monday that Mali has taken an “important step forward” by holding the first round of legislative elections. “The United States applauds the Government of Mali for the technical improvements to

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a security deal with the United States, the White House said, opening up the prospect of a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from the strife-torn nation next year.

“The purpose of Geneva-2 is not to have an armchair discussion about Syria, it’s to have mutual agreement between regime representatives — without Assad — and the moderate opposition in order to form a transitional government,” Laurent Fabius told French radio.