World Audio/Video - NPR

The U.S. economic downturn and tighter border security has not deterred migrants from Central America seeking to enter the United States. But they are being abused in new and alarming ways. Tens of thousands of them are robbed, kidnapped and even killed attempting to cross Mexico.

A top Iraqi official vetoed the country's election law Wednesday, throwing plans to hold parliamentary elections in January into disarray. The move could unravel hard-won compromises, and it could complicate U.S. efforts to withdraw U.S. combat troops next year.

Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president vetoed part of a key election law, a move that could delay national polls slated for January even as the top U.S. commander in Iraq said the timetable for American troop drawdown is on track.

The secretary of state will attend Thursday's ceremony for Afghan leader Hamid Karzai in Kabul and meet with top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChystal. Security is being tightened in the capital for the inauguration, which could be a target for militants.

The attempt marked the second time in seven months that Somali pirates have targeted the U.S.-flagged cargo ship. In April, pirates took the ship's captain hostage, holding him at gunpoint in a lifeboat for five days before he was freed by Navy SEAL sharpshooters.

South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world. But what is widely being called the government's "shoot-to-kill" policy is being blamed for the recent murders of innocent bystanders, including the shooting death of a 3-year-old boy.

U.S. officials need to engage Afghan President Hamid Karzai as they craft a new strategy for Afghanistan. Alex Thier, director for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the U.S. Institute of Peace, tells Steve Inskeep that U.S. officials are considering options that work with Karzai, and options that work around him.

The Obama administration is planning to send more diplomats and civilian aid workers to Afghanistan, and it is working out a strategy to spend billions of dollars for development projects across the border in Pakistan. In both countries, U.S. officials will have challenges working with the local leaders while trying to strengthen their countries.

President Obama's talks in China were cordial, but it was not a breakthrough visit. The modest results have raised questions about how well the two countries can cooperate on important issues. In China, everyone's expectations of Obama's first trip there were different. Some expected him to try to connect more with ordinary Chinese.

Argentina's government has nationalized the television contract that the country's soccer league had with cable television. The president's decision delighted millions of Argentine fans, who previously were excluded from the TV audience because they couldn't afford the cable fees. Now they're watching games for free.