About 200 US reservists, whose arrival in Crimea in southern Ukraine sparked anti-NATO protests, will leave by Monday, but planned military exercises may still take place, Ukraine’s navy quoted by AFP has said. “Half of them (reservists) are in the process of taking buses to Simferopol from where they will …

VIENNA (Reuters) — Non-aligned states will back Iran’s right to nuclear fuel production at a UN meeting this week, unmoved by US calls to join efforts to get Tehran to stop enriching uranium, diplomats said. UN Security Council powers are waiting for Iran to respond to an offer they made …

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Opposition Democrats on Tuesday used President George W. Bush’s secret visit to Iraq as an opportunity to renew their calls for speedy end to America’s military involvement there.

TRIPOLI (AFP) — The retrial of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of contaminating hundreds of Libyan children with AIDS reopened Tuesday with the judge calling for the process to be speeded up.

BEIRUT — The identity of Abu Hamza Muhajir, named to succeed Abu Mussab Zarqawi as leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, has mystified outsiders wondering if he will replicate the bloody tactics of his slain predecessor.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The presence of US troops in Iraq is considered a greater threat to Mideast stability than the current government in Iran, according to a new poll of European and Muslim countries.

BAGHDAD (AP) — The judge declared an end the defence phase of Saddam Hussein’s trial on Tuesday, shrugging off protests from the former Iraqi leader’s lawyers that they haven’t had a fair chance to present their case and want to put more witnesses on the stand.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — President George W. Bush said during a surprise trip to Baghdad on Tuesday he was encouraged by Iraq’s new government but warned of difficult times ahead, as Al Qaeda in Iraq vowed retaliation for the death of its leader.

BRUSSELS — Still ruffled by the furor over the Prophet Mohammad cartoons, the European Union is refining a communication strategy in an effort to help stop disenchanted Muslim youths turning to terrorism.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — The Palestinian territories are in a state of near civil war and just one act of violence, such as a high-profile assassination, could trigger total mayhem, an international think tank said on Tuesday.