In Pakistan, reform school attempts to offer child fighters chance at a new life

PIRANO, PAKISTAN -- In mountains not far from this village, Pakistani authorities say, terrorists are preparing their newest generation of spies, shooters and suicide bombers. In the village, under razor wire and the watch of soldiers, Pakistan is trying to give some of the recruits back their ch...

Allawi reaches out after Iraq election win

BAGHDAD -- Former prime minister Ayad Allawi began reaching out to other political blocs Saturday for allies he needs to form Iraq's next government, while accusing his main rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, of maneuvering to undercut his victory in the March 7 parliamentary elections.

Foreign digest

MIDDLE EAST Arab states should prepare for the possibility that the Palestinian-Israeli peace process may fail and come up with alternatives, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said Saturday.

Militant Iraqi group releases American hostage

BAGHDAD -- An American contractor held hostage by a Shiite militant group in Iraq was returned to U.S. custody this week, the Defense Department said in a statement Saturday.

A hammer -- yes, that low-tech tool -- helps mold noses of Japan's bullet trains

KUDAMATSU, JAPAN -- No objects in Japan embody sleek design and cutting-edge technology like the noses of bullet trains. Decades of computer-aided engineering have gone into those curvaceous snouts.

Biometric identity project in India aims to provide for poor, end corruption

In this country of 1.2 billion people, Inderjit Chaurasia could not prove his identity.

Iraq War Casualties

Total number of U.S. military deaths since 2003 and names of the U.S. troops killed recently in the Iraq war, as announced by the Pentagon: