New York Times report claims Pentagon official Michael Furlong hired private contractors to find, kill suspected militants

Talks seek to add US, Australia, Peru, Vietnam to free trade pact that groups Chile, Singapore, New Zealand, Brunei

Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura promises to help improve the lives of the Afghan people

Henry Kissinger, the former United States secretary of state, was admitted to a hospital in Seoul with what an official called a minor stomach problem.

Of 76 democracies studied, for every well-functioning democracy, two fall short; some, like Iraq, 'highly unstable'