Iraqi President Jalal Talabani claimed Wednesday that the United States originally requested permission during troop withdrawal negotiations to leave armed forces there until 2015, Reuters reported. Eventually, said Talabani, the U.S. agreed to limit authorization to 2011. “It was a U.S. proposal for the date which is 2015, and an …

GORI, Georgia – Columns of hulking, smoke-belching Russian tanks rolled out of key positions deep inside Georgia Friday as Moscow declared it had pulled its forces out following the worst confrontation between the Kremlin and the West since the Soviet collapse. But the United States, France and Britain protested the …

CENTREVILLE, Mich. – A man accused of trying to steal a large Batman movie poster from a cinema lobby while dressed as the Joker has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of malicious destruction of property. Twenty-year-old Spencer Taylor entered the plea Wednesday in St. Joseph County District Court. A …

KATMANDU, Nepal – Police opened fire on rampaging protesters in western Nepal on Wednesday, killing at least one a day ahead of a landmark election to chart the country’s political future, a police official said. The protesters, enraged by the slaying of a candidate a day earlier, began smashing stores …

BAGHDAD – Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday urged other Arab countries to reopen their embassies in the capital as a show of support for his government as it cracks down on Shiite militias in Iraq. Meanwhile, a police commander said six people died in clashes in Baghdad’s embattled Shiite …

MEXICO CITY – The Absolut vodka company apologized Saturday for an ad campaign depicting the southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers. The campaign, which promotes ideal scenarios under the slogan “In an Absolut World,” showed a 1830s-era map when Mexico included …

TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian officials raised the death toll from an explosion in a packed mosque in southern Iran to 12 on Sunday and said more than 200 had been injured in the blast. Iranian media initially quoted local officials as saying the explosion Saturday in the city of Shiraz …

PRESCOTT, Ariz. – A 14-year-old Arizona girl was arrested on suspicion of hitting another teen over the head with a folding chair in an April 10 incident that was posted on the Internet. The video appears to show the 14-year-old approach the other girl from behind while raising the chair, …

TBILISI, Georgia – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran on Thursday that the United States will not back down in the face of Iranian threats against Israel. Iranian officials have strongly suggested the country’s missile test on Wednesday was itself a warning to Israel not to attack Iran’s nuclear …

SALT LAKE CITY – A Las Vegas man who devised a calendar that features shirtless Mormon missionaries is facing a disciplinary hearing and possible excommunication because of the project. A lifetime member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Chad Hardy was summoned by letter to a Sunday …