BAGHDAD -- The engineer stood aside as Iraqi and American soldiers rifled through his daughter's wardrobe and peered under her bed. He did not mind when they confiscated the second clip for his AK-47, because he knew it could be easily replaced. He demurred when asked about insurgent activity in the neighborhood, afraid to be stamped an informant and driven ...

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian man was killed and another wounded yesterday as a major Israeli military raid in Nablus kept the heart of the West Bank city under curfew for the second consecutive day.

RIYADH -- Three French expatriates working in Saudi Arabia were shot dead during a desert trip yesterday in what appeared to be the first militant attack on foreigners in three years.

LONDON -- US and European diplomats prepared yesterday to consider possible new sanctions in the standoff over Iran's nuclear program, even as Iran's top nuclear negotiator again signaled that Tehran would be willing to engage in "constructive and logical" negotiations with the United States.

CARACAS -- President Hugo Chávez ordered by decree yesterday the takeover of oil projects operated by foreign oil companies in Venezuela's Orinoco River region. Chávez previously announced the government's intention to take a majority stake by May 1 in the four heavy oil-upgrading projects run by British Petroleum PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp. , Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Co., Total SA, and ...

WASHINGTON -- An international effort to halt the illegal killing of elephants for their ivory tusks has all but collapsed in most of Africa, leaving officials and advocates alarmed about the survival of the species. A study to be released today estimates that as many as 23,000 animals were slaughtered last year.

SEOUL -- North and South Korea are restoring ties during talks this week following the communist country's pledge to shut down its nuclear reactor, paving the way for restoration of aid to the North and reunions for families split by the divided peninsula.

BERLIN -- The United Nations' highest court ruled yesterday that Serbia failed to prevent the massacre of Muslims during the Bosnian war but was not directly responsible for the atrocities, ending a landmark case in which an entire nation was tried for committing genocide.

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's Shi'ite vice president narrowly escaped assassination yesterday as a blast ripped through a government meeting hall just hours after it was searched by US teams with bomb-sniffing dogs. At least 10 people were killed.

BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi Cabinet approved a draft law yesterday to manage the country's vast oil industry and distribute its wealth among the population -- a major breakthrough in US efforts to press the country's Shi'ite, Sunni, and Kurdish groups to reach agreements to achieve stability.

BAGHDAD -- In the latest attempt to link the deadliest form of roadside bombs in Iraq to components manufactured in Iran, US Army officers displayed plastic explosives yesterday they said were made in Iran and recovered during a raid Saturday in violence-racked Diyala Province.

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip to Pakistan yesterday and urged President Pervez Musharraf to step up efforts to counter resurgent Taliban and Al Qaeda activities in the lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan ahead of the radical Islamic groups' impending "spring offensive."

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- An explosion outside the main US military base in Afghanistan killed 19 people and wounded 11 early today during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, though the vice president was apparently not in danger, US and Afghan officials said.

LONDON -- A British court ruled yesterday that Abu Qatada, a radical Islamic cleric believed to have close links to Al Qaeda, faces no risk of abuse if sent to Jordan, opening the way for his deportation.