Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said today that negotiations on his country hosting part of a U.S. missile defense system could open within weeks.

China today dismissed U.S. criticism of its military buildup, saying the country is an important force for world peace.

European restrictions on banana imports will face a new challenge at the World Trade Organization next month when Ecuador asks the group to restart a decade-old dispute over what Latin American countries and the United States have previously argued amounts to unfair trade discrimination, officials said Monday.

The U.S. military today showed what it said was further evidence of Iranian-made weapons used by Iraqi militants fighting U.S. troops.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced visit today to Pakistan, where he went straight into security-related talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has responded to Iran's declaration today that it had no "reverse gear" on its nuclear program by saying that Tehran needs to halt weapons-related activities.

A British official says the government has been talking with the United States about placing part of an American anti-missile system in Britain.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has said that the United States and its allies must not allow Iran to become a nuclear power.

Democratic Party leaders in the U.S. Senate are working on legislation that would effectively revoke the 2002 resolution authorizing military action against Iraq.

American and Russian generals, diplomats and politicians are continuing an exchange of words over a U.S. proposal to deploy a new missile defense system in Europe. The Russians are concerned that the system would target them. The Americans fear without it, the United States would be open to an emerging missile threat from Iran. VOA's Peter Fedynsky has details.

U.S. officials have charged two men with helping thousands of people travel to Cuba with fraudulent religious visas. Authorities say the suspects used bogus church names and other information to avoid travel restrictions to the Communist island.

Officials in Ethiopia are vehemently denying a report in The New York Times newspaper, which says that the U.S. military secretly used an airstrip inside Ethiopia to conduct attacks against Islamic militants in Somalia last month. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has that story from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.