Middle East

Iran's formal notification Monday to a United Nations nuclear watchdog that it will begin producing higher-grade enriched uranium marks a new and potentially dangerous turn in Tehran's confrontation with the West over its nuclear ambitions.

TEHRAN -- Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday that it will start producing higher-grade enriched uranium, prompting the United States and France to call for tougher U.N. sanctions against the country.

TEHRAN -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday ordered the production of higher-enriched uranium -- significantly beyond the levels of its regular nuclear fuel -- prompting the United States to renew threats of carefully targeted sanctions.

BAGHDAD -- An American contractor working for the U.S. military in Baghdad has been abducted by a Shiite militant group, U.S. officials said this weekend in response to a statement and video issued by the group.

ANKARA, TURKEY -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Saturday played down assertions by Iran that it is ready to reach a deal on its nuclear program, saying Tehran's overall response to overtures from the Obama administration has been "quite disappointing."

Baghdad -- An American contractor working for the U.S. military in Baghdad has been kidnapped by a Shiite militant group, U.S. officials said this weekend in response to a statement and video issued by the group.

BAGHDAD -- The Pentagon has acknowledged that an American contractor for the Defense Department is missing in Baghdad, an apparent confirmation of a Shiite militant group's claim this week that it abducted an American in Baghdad last month.

KOCHI, INDIA -- When his overnight flight landed, Abdul Wahib walked out of Kochi's palm-fringed airport and hugged his family. After 24 years of working in the United Arab Emirates, he was home. He carried a suitcase and a layoff notice: His well-paid job as a forklift operator at Dubai's once-b...

BAGHDAD -- IRAQ Iraq's electoral commission asked the country's highest judicial power Thursday to decide whether a ruling to allow barred candidates to run in national elections March 7 is binding.

China on Thursday threw a roadblock in the path of a U.S.-led push for sanctions against Iran, saying that it is important to continue negotiations as long as Iran appears willing to consider a deal to give up some of its enriched uranium.