WASHINGTON - The United States has recalled its ambassador to Syria amid rising tensions over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri of Lebanon.

BAGHDAD - The U.S. and Iranian ambassadors to Iraq sat down Tuesday for a second round of groundbreaking of talks on stabilizing Iraq, a session marred by a tense exchange over American allegations that Iran is fueling the violence.

ATHENS, Greece - The U.S. Embassy in Athens came under fire early Friday from a rocket that exploded inside the modern glass-front building but caused no casualties in an attack police suspect was the work of Greek leftists.

MEXICO CITY - Mexico extradited four major drug traffickers to the U.S. on Friday, a sign that the nation's new president will deliver on his promise for more cooperation in fighting cross-border crime.

BAGHDAD - The departing U.S. ambassador said on Monday that he believes Iraq is heading in the right direction but cautioned that Iraqi leaders must understand that U.S. voters are increasingly impatient with the war.

GENEVA - A senior U.S. official rejected calls on Thursday for a U.N. body to take over control of the main computers that direct traffic on the Internet, reiterating U.S. intentions to keep its historical role as the medium's principal overseer.

UNITED NATIONS - The United States and Britain sought U.N. backing for their post-occupation plans for Iraq, proposing a new resolution Monday that would endorse the June 30 handover of power and authorize a U.S.-led multinational force to keep the peace.

WASHINGTON - The United States is encouraging Israel to hold "serious talks" with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as an alternative to the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority.

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany - Smiling broadly, journalist Jill Carroll arrived Saturday under U.S. military protection in Germany, the first stop on her return to the United States from Iraq where she was kidnapped and spent 82 days in captivity.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired the commander of the Afghanistan war Monday, saying the Obama administration needed "fresh thinking" to turn around the war against a resurgent Taliban.

TOKYO - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the United States is ready to use the "full range" of its military might to defend Japan in light of North Korea's nuclear weapons test, and her Japanese counterpart drew a firm line against developing a Japanese bomb.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The White House said Monday that the fledgling Iraqi government must step up and take more responsibility for the country's security, but said the United States is not issuing ultimatums to Baghdad.

June 6, 2004

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian deputies were gathering signatures to try and form an Iranian-U.S. friendship committee in parliament to hold contacts with the U.S. Congress, legislators involved in the effort said Tuesday.

DAMADOLA, Pakistan - Pakistan on Saturday condemned a purported CIA airstrike on a border village that officials said unsuccessfully targeted al-Qaida's second-in-command, and said it was protesting to the U.S. Embassy over the attack that killed at least 17 people.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Heliborne U.S. and Iraqi troops pressed their sweep through a 100-square-mile swath of central Iraq on Friday in a bid to break up a center of insurgent resistance, the U.S. military said. No resistance or casualties were reported.

ANKARA, Turkey - In a stunning rejection that appeared to kill U.S. plans for a ‘‘northern front’’ in any war against Iraq, Turkey’s Parliament refused Saturday to authorize the deployment of 62,000 U.S. troops on Turkish soil.

CAIRO, Egypt - Osama bin Laden issued new threats in an audiotape broadcast on Arab television Sunday and accused the United States and Europe of supporting a "Zionist" war on Islam by cutting off funds to the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

 The Russian invasion of Georgia took place just before the 40th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Why are the American people being fed nothing but lies about the Benghazi, Libya Embassy Attack and the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens? Obama’s UN Ambassador Susan Rice was all over the news programs spouting the Administration’s lie about the Benghazi Embassy attack being “spontaneous,” brought about “solely” to protest the latest anti-Islam “home movie.”

SEOUL, South Korea - Japan and Washington agreed Friday to strengthen cooperation on missile defense amid concerns of a possible long-range rocket launch by North Korea, as U.S. forces wrapped up massive Pacific war games in a show of military might.

WASHINGTON - The United States recalled its ambassador and considered further sanctions against Syria on Tuesday, a day after the fiery assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in downtown Beirut.

WASHINGTON - The Russian government provided Saddam Hussein with intelligence on U.S. military movements and plans during the opening days of the war in 2003, according to a Pentagon report released Friday.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - On the last day of campaigning, a roadside bomb killed four American soldiers Tuesday and gunmen assassinated a candidate for parliament in this week's election. A Shiite politician escaped injury in a bombing south of Baghdad.