nato

Two civilians were killed and six wounded in an operation in southern Afghanistan on Saturday that included air strikes by NATO-led forces, military officials said.

NATO needs more troops in Afghanistan to be able to hold territory and avoid a stalemate in its battle against Islamist militants, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Wednesday.

NATO agreed on Tuesday to gradually resume contacts with Russia suspended after Moscow's intervention in Georgia, and put off a decision on putting Ukraine and Georgia on formal membership tracks.

The United States will urge NATO on Tuesday to encourage Georgia and Ukraine to join the military alliance after European nations derailed President George W. Bush's bid to put them on the track to membership.

The U.S. general commanding NATO forces in Afghanistan has ordered a merger of the office that releases news with "Psy Ops," which deals with propaganda, a move that goes against the alliance's policy, three officials said.

Russia welcomes a decision by the U.S. government to back away from granting fast-track NATO membership to ex-Soviet republics Georgia and Ukraine at the alliance's summit later this month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed away on Wednesday from offering Georgia and Ukraine a formal roadmap to join NATO and said Britain had proposed finding other ways to bring them into the alliance.

Russia's upper house of parliament gave its assent on Wednesday to constitutional amendments extending the presidential term from four to six years.

NATO will probably not offer membership to Ukraine and Georgia for years to come, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday before an alliance meeting next week that is expected to discuss the issue.

The United States raised doubts about the prospect of a fast return to normal ties between NATO and Russia after the Georgian war on Friday, despite a European Union move to restart partnership talks with Moscow.

The top commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan on Tuesday recommended a plan to stem growing violence by empowering local Afghan leaders, including former Taliban members.

Russia's Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Tuesday he was concerned by what he called Georgia's efforts to boost its military potential, adding this could have bigger consequences than August's conflict.

Tbilisi's U.N. envoy said on Monday that he expects U.S. President-elect Barack Obama will maintain strong U.S. support for the NATO ambitions of Georgia, still reeling from a military defeat by Russia.

NATO reaffirmed on Monday its backing for a planned U.S. missile shield in Europe after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it would bring no extra security on the continent.

The United States is studying whether NATO could offer Georgia something short of a formal path to membership to take account of European opposition, U.S. and European officials said on Thursday.

NATO, meeting on Russia's doorstep, held talks with Ukraine Friday to assess its progress toward membership of the alliance, but prospects for a promised entry action plan were dim.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will urge NATO allies this week to place Ukraine on a path to alliance membership despite Russian objections and doubts about the former Soviet state's political future.

On a global scale pollinator shortages are not affecting crop yields, a new study suggests, but there could be problems in the future.

Kenyans in Barack Obama's ancestral homeland sang and danced with joy on Wednesday as the Illinois senator they see as one of their own became the first black U.S. president.

An insurgent attack that killed nine U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and nearly overran a NATO outpost was carried out with the aid of two local Afghan government officials, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

European nations could contribute more to NATO's mission in Afghanistan if Washington poured in more resources itself and provided a compelling strategy, the U.S. ambassador to NATO said on Thursday.

NATO would abide by its commitment to defend the three Baltic states in case of attack, the top U.S. military officer said on Wednesday in the face of regional concerns over a newly assertive Russia.

On a global scale pollinator shortages are not affecting crop yields, a new study suggests, but there could be problems in the future.

NATO members are wavering in their political commitment to Afghanistan, one of the alliance's top commanders said on Monday, describing the nearly seven-year-old campaign against the Taliban as disjointed.