Rice signs missile defense deal with Poland
WARSAW, Poland - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal Wednesday to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, an agreement that prompted an infuriated Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet satellite.

Russians dig in as pullback drags on in Georgia
SACHKHERE, Georgia - Russian forces on Wednesday built a sentry post just 30 miles from the Georgian capital, appearing to dig in to positions deep inside Georgia despite pledges to pull back to areas mandated by a cease-fire signed by both countries.

NATO takes no decisive steps to force Russian withdrawal
BRUSSELS — NATO declared Tuesday that there will be no “business as usual” with Moscow while Russian forces occupied large parts of Georgia, but it took no decisive action to enforce a demand for an immediate Russian withdrawal in line with a French-brokered cease-fire.

Turkey confirms suicide bombing wounds 13
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey’s interior minister on Wednesday confirmed that 13 policemen were wounded in a suicide bombing this week.

Iraqi army seizes 2 Sunni officials in chaotic pre-dawn raid
BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces raided the provincial government compound in Diyala Province in a chaotic operation early Tuesday, killing the governor’s secretary and seizing computers and cars before local police engaged them in a two-hour gun battle, police and local officials said.

Iraqi troops detain son of prominent Sunni leader
BAGHDAD - The U.S. military says Iraqi troops have detained the son of a prominent Sunni leader during a raid in Baghdad.

Record number of US contractors in Iraq
Some 190,000 private personnel were working in the Iraq theater as of early this year, a new report says. 

Israel shuts Gaza crossings after rocket attack
JERUSALEM - Israel has closed its cargo crossings with the Gaza Strip following a Palestinian rocket attack on southern Israel that violated a truce.

Fire breaks out in Egypt’s parliament
CAIRO, Egypt - Fire ravaged a 19th century palace used by the upper house of Egypt’s parliament Tuesday, with flames bursting through windows as helicopters scooped water from the Nile River to douse the blaze.

Sources: Iranian satellite try failed
Iranian officials say a rocket launch last weekend was merely a test, but U.S. military intelligence officials now see it as a failed attempt to put a satellite in orbit.

Suicide bombers attack US base in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan - Suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a U.S. military base near Afghanistan-Pakistan border in a daring attack on a major American installation, officials said Tuesday. Six insurgents detonated their vests after being surrounded.

Pentagon planning to send up to 15,000 troops to Afghanistan. (Think Progress)
U.S. News reports that the Pentagon “will be sending 12,000 to 15,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, possibly as soon as the end of this year, with planning underway for a further force buildup in 2009.” In light of the soaring violence in the country, Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, has said that he has even requested “some additional forces on top of that for the current fight.”

Pakistan missile strike kills eight: officials
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Missiles fired from Afghanistan hit a militant hideout in Pakistan’s tribal belt Wednesday, killing at least eight people including some foreign extremists, security officials said.

Police: Bomb blast in Pakistan hospital kills 23
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan - A bombing outside the emergency gate of a hospital crowded with Shiite Muslim mourners in Pakistan’s volatile northwest killed at least 23 people and wounded 15 Tuesday, officials said.

Musharraf’s resignation won’t solve Pakistan’s problems
ISLAMABAD — Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf bowed to domestic and international pressure and quit Monday, but his departure could trigger further instability for the nuclear-armed U.S. ally if the country’s fractious coalition government can’t hold together without its common enemy.

Sri Lankan troops break through rebel defenses
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The Sri Lankan military says it has broken through the Tamil Tigers’ defenses in recent weeks, ending a prolonged stalemate and stirring predictions of an imminent rebel defeat after 25 years of civil war.

Philippines peace in tatters after rebel attack
KAUSWAGAN, Philippines - Police special forces with orders to kill headed into the hinterlands of the southern Philippines on Wednesday, seeking Muslim rebels responsible for shooting and hacking 37 people to death in a brutal rampage that has left peace prospects in tatters.

Court: Accused Nazi eligible for extradition
SYDNEY, Australia - An 86-year-old man accused of killing a Jewish teenager in Hungary during World War II can be extradited to Hungary to face charges, an Australian judge found Wednesday.

Dion says considering forcing an election
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Liberal leader Stephane Dion said on Tuesday he was considering forcing an election, which would end the minority Conservative government, but timing was important.

Mexico City’s abortion-rights law faces constitutional test
MEXICO CITY — More than a year after abortion was decriminalized in this capital city, abortion opponents hope the Mexican Supreme Court will reverse the legislation in a decision that could reverberate across Mexico and Latin America.

Mexico church assailed for maligning miniskirt
MEXICO CITY - A Catholic priest’s condemnation of miniskirts on an official church Web site is causing outrage among some Mexican women, who say the Roman Catholic Church is making it easier to justify sexual violence against women.

Peru suspends rights in jungle protest regions
LIMA, Peru - Peru’s government declared a state of emergency Monday in remote jungle regions where Indian groups are blocking highways and oil and gas installations to protest a law that makes it easier to sell their lands.

Two more bombs kill 11 in Algeria: report
BOUIRA, Algeria (Reuters) - Two car bombs in Algeria killed at least 11 people on Wednesday, the day after an attack left 43 dead at a military academy, Algerian press agency APS said quoting the Interior Ministry.

Mugabe to open parliament despite warning
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will officially open parliament on Tuesday despite opposition warnings that such a move would endanger crucial power-sharing talks.

Sudan’s president: Darfur genocide ‘nonexistent’
ISTANBUL, Turkey - Sudan’s indicted president denied Wednesday that his regime is orchestrating genocide in the troubled western region of Darfur — and offered hope for an end to the violence and the dawn of reconciliation by promising free and fair elections next year.

No Sudanese will ever be tried abroad: Beshir
ISTANBUL (AFP) - Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, named as a possible war crimes suspect in Darfur, said here Wednesday that no citizen of his country would ever be handed over to international justice.