STRASBOURG (Reuters) - President Barack Obama won NATO backing on Saturday for his new approach to Afghanistan but his European allies stopped short of offering long-term troop deployments for the war effort.Leaders of the 28-nation military alliance pledged at a summit to send 3,000 more troops on short-term assignments to boost security for August 20 elections in Afghanistan, and some 2,000 more personnel to train Afghan security forces.They also promised to send 300 paramilitary police tra... Read Full Story

PRAGUE -- Under a hazy spring sky, before a swelling Czech crowd, U.S. President Barack Obama called for an international effort to lock down nuclear weapons materials within four years, one of a host of steps he said would move the globe to nuclear disarmament.Speaking just hours after North Korea launched a controversial multistage rocket, the U.S. president took to the stage in Castle Square here, testifying "clearly and with conviction" to an audience of at least 20,000 of "... Read Full Story

SEOUL, April 5 (Reuters) - Following is a full text of the English-language report on North Korea's KCNA news agency on Sunday saying the communist state had successfully put a satellite into orbit:"Scientists and technicians of the DPRK (North Korea) have succeeded in putting satellite Kwangmyongsong-2, an experimental communications satellite, into orbit by means of carrier rocket Unha-2 under the state's long-term plan for the development of outer space."Unha-2, which was... Read Full Story

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – A gunman barricaded the back door of a community center with his car and then opened fire on a room full of immigrants taking a citizenship class Friday, killing 13 people before apparently committing suicide, officials said.Investigators said they had yet to establish a motive for the massacre, which was at least the fifth deadly mass shooting in the U.S. in the past month alone.The attack came just after 10 a.m. at the American Civic Association, an organization that help... Read Full Story

Madonna is expected in Malawi this weekend to try to adopt a second child from the impoverished southern African country, government sources have told The Times.The pop singer, who divorced Guy Ritchie, the film director, recently, will take her Malawian son David with her to visit his natural father as part of the controversial deal that allowed his adoption to be fast tracked.“We expect her over the weekend or even earlier than that . . . but without a doubt she is coming,” said an official... Read Full Story

The teen says one movie is enough for her popular TV character.Although the film hasn't even opened yet, Miley Cyrus is already pretty sure there will be only be one "Hannah Montana" movie in her life. The Kids' Choice Award-winning 16-year-old, who is currently promoting "Hannah Montana: The Movie," doesn't feel it's necessary to bring the character back to the big screen for a sequel."I feel like this is a TV show, and we got really lucky with having... Read Full Story

Pop star Madonna is in Malawi awaiting the result of a court bid to adopt an orphan, four-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James. Her case has sparked a wider debate over inter-country adoption.Should parents in affluent countries be encouraged to adopt children from different cultures in the developing world?Sarah Jacobs is the Africa spokeswoman for the charity Save the Children.No doubt Madonna is looking to adopt Mercy with the best of intentions.But such a high-profile adoption risks ... Read Full Story

ELEANOR HALL: One person watching the trial in Phnom Penh very closely is New Zealand Olympic rowing great Rob Hamill, whose brother was among those killed by the Khmer Rouge at Tuol Sleng prison.Rob Hamill told our New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie that his brother Kerry was captured when he sailed close to Cambodia in the late 1970s.ROB HAMILL: My brother was sailing his yacht, taking a charter from Singapore up to Bangkok and got blown off course and ended up in Cambodian waters, got... Read Full Story

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's Taliban chief has claimed responsibility for a deadly assault on a police academy, saying he wanted to retaliate for U.S. missile attacks on the militant bases on the border with Afghanistan.Baitullah Mehsud, who has a $5 million bounty on his head from the United States, also vowed to "amaze everyone in the world" with an attack on Washington or even the White House.The FBI, however, said he had made similar threats previously and there was no indica... Read Full Story

Iran's representative to an international conference here on Afghanistan criticized President Obama's plan to boost U.S. troops there but said Iran is "fully prepared" to participate in Afghan reconstruction projects and efforts to halt drug trafficking. "The people of Afghanistan know their country better than anybody else does," Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhundzadeh said, speaking in English Tuesday before a group of diplomats that included Secreta... Read Full Story