In an extraordinary shift, party leaders from across Iraq’s political spectrum are reaching across ethnic and sectarian lines for the parliamentary elections.

The visit by the Iranian foreign minister, the first of its kind in a decade, came just before talks on Iran’s nuclear program were to begin in Geneva.

Though it is uncertain how the confrontation over Iranian nuclear facilities will play out, some in the Persian Gulf region are even envisioning a military strike by the West, or Israel.

China’s Communist Party is throwing itself a huge and carefully choreographed party on Thursday. But what inspires loyalty today is not ideology, but the government’s skill at raising China from poverty.

A 7.6 earthquake struck the island of Sumatra a day after another quake triggered a tsunami in the Samoans.