Iraq, Middle East | featured news

Iran's foreign minister said today that three Americans jailed since crossing the border from Iraq in July will go on trial.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates visited as Baghdad was reeling from bombings and U.S. forces are beginning to prepare for withdrawals this spring.

Progress against the insurgency in Afghanistan probably will be slower than seen during the buildup of U.S. forces in Iraq two ...

Three American hikers who have been detained in Iran after crossing into the country from Iraq have been charged with espionage, according to Iran's State News Agency.

Iraqi lawmakers passed a long-delayed election law on Sunday to pave the way for a January poll, after parliament sidestepped a potentially explosive row over the oil-producing city of Kirkuk.

The blasts, which leave more than 600 wounded, go off near the justice ministry and the Baghdad provincial council.

Reporting from Baghdad — Car bombs exploded in Baghdad this morning by two key government buildings, killing at least 106 people, as political leaders were set to meet to try to resolve a fierce dispute that could delay national elections, ranked as pivotal to Iraq's long-term stability.

At least nine people were killed and at least 30 were wounded Friday in a suicide attack targeting Sunni Muslim worshipers at a mosque in northern Iraq, an Interior Ministry said.

Iraq's Cabinet has signed off on a $67 billion draft budget for 2010 that is well below what officials have said is needed, raising concerns that the shortfall will derail the progress of Iraqi security forces just they are taking over from withdrawing American troops.

Iraq's foreign minister said Saturday that those who carried out bombings that targeted government buildings in the Iraqi capital received help to pull off the attacks, possibly from Iraqi security forces.

A series of powerful explosions reverberated across the heart of Baghdad today, killing at least 75 people and wounding more than 300 on the deadliest day in the capital since U.S. forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq's cities on June 30.