Politics - AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday started a high-profile state visit to the United States with a call on President Barack Obama to stay committed on Afghanistan and pressure Pakistan.

HALIFAX, Canada (AFP) - The United States on Sunday urged Iran to "engage" the West at a new security forum in Canada, where allied commanders also agreed setting an Afghanistan exit date would only serve to embolden the Taliban.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has voiced confidence that the US economy will make a strong recovery and poured cold water on talk of dropping the dollar as the key global currency.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The nephew of ex-president John F. Kennedy, a US lawmaker, has been barred from receiving communion at his Catholic church due to his support for abortion rights, a newspaper reported Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two Chinese intellectuals who helped draft a bold petition for democracy appealed Sunday to US President Barack Obama to make human rights integral to his approach to Beijing, which they warned would not move on its own.

LONDON (AFP) - Hostility between US and British military leaders in Iraq ran deep, with one describing his US counterparts as "group of Martians," a newspaper reported Monday, citing leaked government documents.

HALIFAX, Canada (AFP) - Despite fierce public pressure to end the war in Afghanistan eight years on, politicians and experts on Saturday decried calls for setting an exit date they say would embolden the Taliban.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States has begun helping a number of anti-Taliban militias in several parts of Afghanistan in hopes for a large-scale tribal rebellion against the radical Islamic movement, The New York Times reported.

SEOUL (AFP) - A group of US experts on Korean affairs will visit Pyongyang Saturday for talks with policy makers regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, a news report said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US and Paraguayan representatives held talks in Washington Saturday to shore up trade ties and extend an intellectual rights accord, US officials said.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Saturday praised US President Barack Obama for taking up the issue of Tibet "very seriously" with Chinese leaders on his recent trip to China.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Back from an Asia tour, President Barack Obama called Saturday for the United States to produce more goods to sell across the Pacific, touting trade as a way to revive the troubled US economy.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Supporters of Taiwan in the US Congress pushed for President Barack Obama to move toward selling arms to the island, a step that would likely set back warming US ties with China.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama's signature drive to remake US health care was on track to clear a key Senate hurdle Saturday, as the last wavering Democrats agreed to vote to formally open debate on the bill.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama has put off a decision on whether to send reinforcements to Afghanistan until after next week's Thanksgiving holiday amid resistance to a troop buildup among key Democrats and criticism from the right.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Calling Afghan President Hamid Karzai an "unworthy partner," a key Democratic leader warned Friday that Congress cannot fund an expanded military mission without a reliable ally in Kabul.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A planned November hearing by the US Senate Armed Services Committee to consider ending a ban on gays serving openly in the US military will be postponed, a spokeswoman indicated Friday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US and Canadian military commanders are reviewing whether to maintain elaborate air defenses set up after the attacks of September 11, 2001, a spokesman said on Friday.