British Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Saturday, thanking his nation's fighting forces for a job "well done." "This has been the most difficult summer in Afghanistan because the Taliban have tried to prevent the elections taking place and I think our forces who I've been meeting today have shown extraordinary courage during this period," Brown said in a televised interview, taped in Afghanistan and aired in Britain. Brown dropped by Camp Bastion in Helmand ...

Unemployment in Japan has hit 5.7 percent in July, the highest on record since World War II. Joblessness in the world's second-largest economy has been steadily rising from 4.8 percent in March to 5.4 percent in June. The record July number exceeded analyst predictions of 5.5 percent, which would have matched the previous postwar record. The news comes on the eve of Japanese elections this weekend and could augur the end of rule of the nation's Liberal Democratic Party, ...

The recession's latest victim in Japan may not be corporate earnings but the political careers of the ruling party in the country's parliament. This Sunday in Japan, voters go to the ballot box in what poll after poll shows will be a historic shift in political power, booting out the ruling party. The Liberal Democratic Party, or the LDP, has been in nearly continuous control of Japan's parliament for more than five decades. But the country's worst recession ...

Americans are being urged to boycott Scottish products as continued outrage over last week's release of the Lockerbie bomber prompted an emergency meeting of parliament. A Web site set up to vent anger at the decision to send Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi back to Libya calls on Americans to avoid travel to Scotland and cease buying Scottish products such as whisky. Both tourism and whisky account for billions of dollars of revenue for the Scottish economy. "The actions of ...

Gentler winds Monday morning gave firefighters in Greece some room to breathe, but the respite was only temporary. Gale-force winds are expected to pick up later Monday, once again re-igniting flames and a race to contain them before they reach the capital, Athens. For a fourth day, a fleet of aircraft took off at daybreak to resume water drops as flames licked the northern outskirts of the capital. From above, the suburbs emitted an orange glow as at ...

Ramadan, the holy month of Islam, began Saturday with Iraqis hoping for tranquility but fearful after recent attacks that have shaken the country. Al-Iraqia state TV interrupted regular programming Saturday afternoon to broadcast Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's address to Iraqis on the occasion of the start of the holy month. The prime minister said that as he congratulates Iraqis, his "heart is full of sadness and sorrow." Four Iraqi soldiers and a government worker were killed Saturday in attacks in ...

Israel makes no secret that it sees Iran is its biggest threat but the scale of the threat is less clear cut. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not missed an opportunity to name Iran as the number one threat, and like his predecessors he has said Israel will not tolerate a nuclear Iran. Tests are ongoing for Israel's arrow missile system, designed to intercept incoming rockets -- although Israel does not openly say which direction they'd come from. Last week, ...

Japan has joined the growing number of major economies that are back in black. Japan's economy grew 3.7 percent on an annualized basis from April to June this year, the first time the world's second largest economy has seen positive growth in 15 months. The announcement of preliminary figures by Japan's Cabinet Office comes after France and Germany surprised economists last week by posting 0.3 percent growth for the second quarter of the year. The news that Japan has rebounded ...

Britons including Prime Minister Gordon Brown have leapt to the defense of their creaking healthcare service after President Barack Obama's plans for a similar system in the United States were branded "evil" by Republicans. Tens of thousands of people have joined a Twitter group expressing pride in the UK's National Health Service (NHS), which offers free taxpayer-funded medical care to all British residents, while leading politicians have spoken out in support. Republican former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin earlier this week ...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday visited Nigeria, warning it could be a target for al Qaeda. The country has been racked by violence between Christians and Muslims, with hundreds having died in riots over the past several years. "Al Qaeda has a presence in Northern Africa," Clinton said. "There is no doubt in our mind that al Qaeda and like organizations that are part of the syndicate of terror would seek a foothold anywhere they could find ...