British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has defended the UK's involvement in the war in Afghanistan following the British Army's bloodiest day of the near eight-year conflict. Addressing lawmakers on Monday, Brown said the security of Afghanistan was crucial to preventing terrorist attacks elsewhere in the world. "In 2009 the case for our continued involvement is the same: to prevent terrorist attacks in Britain and across the world by dealing with the terrorist threat at its source -- that crucible of ...

Authorities here closed the airport and restricted the airspace over the nation's capital in anticipation of deposed President Jose Manuel Zelaya's announced return Sunday. In an interview from Washington with Telesur TV, Zelaya said he was departing for Honduras on a plane with United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto. A delegation supporting Zelaya, including the head of the Organization of American States and Presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, ...

In bowing out as Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin harkened back to her high school basketball days — although there was no sign of the "Barracuda," as she was nicknamed for her ability to cut through the opposing team's offenses. In a hastily called press conference on the eve of a three-day holiday, Palin presented herself as a point guard exhausted by the "full court press from the national level." The 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee explained how the ...

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford left the Governor's Mansion on Friday to visit with his family in Florida, his office said. Sanford departed the mansion, where he has spent much of the last 48 hours, in the passenger seat of a state vehicle. The Republican governor will spend the Fourth of July holiday weekend with his wife and their four boys. "The Sanford family asks members of the media to respect their privacy while they are together this weekend," his ...

The attorney general of South Carolina on Tuesday asked the state law enforcement division to review Gov. Mark Sanford's travel records after the governor admitted to more visits with his mistress than previously disclosed. "In light of the governor's disclosure of additional travel today, I have requested that SLED conduct a preliminary review of all Governor Sanford's travel records to determine if any laws have been broken or any state funds misused," Attorney General Henry McMaster said in a statement. ...

Big-spending English club Manchester City have made a "stratospheric" offer to Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o, according to Barcelona president Joan Laporta. The 28-year-old, who has one year left on his contract with the Spanish and European champions, has long been linked with the Premier League club. He has previously said that a move to City did not interest him, but the club's billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is determined to finance a deal for the player, who ...

He's a key Iranian politician whose name is on the lips of opponents, supporters and experts alike in the bloody aftermath of the Iran's presidential elections. But despite the chaos that's plagued the Islamic Republic for the past two weeks -- even resulting in the brief detention of his daughter -- former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has remained silent and largely unseen. The last time the world saw Iran's assembled leadership was June 19, when Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah ...

Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has held power since 2003, and Sunday's midterm elections will prove pivotal to her hold on power. Much depends on how Fernandez's husband -- and predecessor -- Nestor Kirchner fares in his race for a deputy's seat in the nation's lower house. Even though he has not been in office since December 2007, some analysts say he remains the most influential political figure in the nation and the person who still makes most important ...

Embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford plans to return to work Friday, despite calls for him to resign because of a sex scandal. "After spending Thursday with his family in Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, Governor Mark Sanford has returned to Columbia and plans on holding a Cabinet meeting on Friday," his office told CNN by e-mail Thursday, a day after he admitted having an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman. After disappearing from the public eye for nearly a week, ...

Jenny Sanford said Thursday that her husband Mark Sanford's political career is "not a concern of mine" and that she'd be just fine -- regardless of whether their marriage survives. She would not speculate whether her husband would resign as South Carolina governor. "His career is not a concern of mine," she told reporters as she departed the family's vacation home in Sullivans Island, South Carolina. "He's going to have to worry about that. I'm worried about my family and ...