ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A high court on Monday barred the leader of the junior partner in the government, Nawaz Sharif, from running for Parliament in a by-election later this week, a decision that is bound to intensify the hostilities within the fractious ruling coalition. Mr. Sharif, who was twice prime minister and is now the most popular politician in the nation, according to some opinion polls,... 

Nepal, the world’s last Hindu kingdom, was poised to be reborn as a republic Wednesday, as a newly elected assembly led by former Maoist guerillas prepared to meet to fulfill the leftists’ principal campaign promise. Exactly when and how the monarch, King Gyanendra, would leave Narayanhity, the main palace in the capital, Katmandu, was not clear. He has made no public statements in recent weeks... 

Nepal’s Maoists were confirmed winners of this month’s landmark elections in the impoverished nation after vote counting was completed, officials said Thursday. The Election Commission on Wednesday completed the vote counting for the whole country under the proportional representation (PR) electoral system. According to a preliminary report, the CPN-Maoist, with 29.28 percent (3,144,204... 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s new government is pushing ahead with the reinstatement of judges fired by President Pervez Musharraf in November, a move that could further weaken the embattled president. A senior government official said deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and dozens of other judges could be restored to their positions before the end of the month. Their reinstatement... 

SOCHI, Russia - President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to overcome sharp differences over a U.S. missile defense system, closing their seven-year relationship Sunday still far apart on an issue that has separated them from the beginning. “Our fundamental attitude toward the American plan has not changed,” Putin said at a news conference with Bush at his vacation house... 

BUCHAREST, Romania — NATO leaders agreed Thursday to endorse a United States missile defense system based in Europe and to provide more troops for Afghanistan, but they refused to back President Bush’s proposal to bring Ukraine and Georgia closer to NATO membership. Washington’s failure to win over Germany, France, Italy, Spain and other crucial European countries to its view on Ukraine and... 

SHANGHAI — After two weeks in which China contended that Tibet’s government in exile had instigated the riots earlier this month to tarnish the coming Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese government on Sunday issued for the first time what it said was evidence of the plot. Xinhua, the state-run news agency, said the Chinese police had a confession written by an unidentified monk who they said... 

More than 100 people have turned themselves in to police following anti-China riots in Tibet’s main city, Lhasa, Chinese state media has said. People surrendered to secure leniency in response to a deadline set by the authorities, Xinhua news agency said. China had said it would harshly punish those who failed to surrender. Police in Lhasa have been searching houses and making arrests, activists... 

BERLIN, March 19 — In a new audiotape released Wednesday, Osama bin Laden warned Europeans that they will face a “severe reckoning” for repeatedly publishing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in newspapers and magazines. The five-minute speech was the second time in four months that bin Laden has delivered threats to European countries. He made only one oblique reference to President... 

Pakistan’s caretaker minister and Human Rights activist Ansar Burney has said that he will not help Sarabjit Singh, as he has ”no sympathy for terrorists”. Sarabjit, an Indian national, faces a death warrant slated for April 1 in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail. ”Sarabjit Singh was a terrorist, I have no sympathy with him. There is a big difference between Kashmir Singh and...