He was raised in New Jersey, where he was on the high school wrestling team and earned a black belt in karate. Nearly a decade later, Sharif Mobley is under arrest in Yemen, suspected of being an al-Qaida member and accused of killing a guard in an attempt to break out of a hospital.
While some acquaintances were startled by the news out of the Middle East on Thursday, a former classmate said that Mobley had strong religious views in high school, often trying to convert friends to Islam, and became …

The families of three Americans detained in Iran for months say their loved ones have been allowed to call home for the first time.
The families said in a statement Wednesday that they received the calls Tuesday. The three reported being well. The families called the conversations “a tremendous relief.”
The families say Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal (fuh-TAHL’) were hiking in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region in July when they accidentally crossed the border into Iran.
Bauer and Fattal are 27 and Shourd is 31. The families say Bauer and Fattal …

A strong, pre-dawn earthquake struck eastern Turkey on Monday, killing 51 people as it knocked down stone and mud-brick houses and minarets in at least six villages, the government said.
The earthquake surprised many residents as they slept, crumpling buildings into piles of rubble. Panicked survivors fled into the narrow village streets, some climbing out of windows, as more than 50 aftershocks measuring up to 5.5 and 5.3 magnitude rattled the region.
The Kandilli seismology center said the 6.0-magnitude quake hit at 4:32 a.m. (0232 GMT, 9 p.m. EST Sunday) near the …

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised British troops 200 new patrol vehicles that can resist roadside bombs more effectively during an unannounced visit Saturday to southern Afghanistan.
Brown made the trip to Camp Bastion in southern Helmand province to thank some of the 4,000 British soldiers who are involved in a 3-week-old NATO offensive to wrest control of the Taliban haven of Marjah from the insurgents.
“We will do everything we can to support you with the equipment necessary and the resources you need,” he told troops, according to the British Press …

Prime Minister Recep Erdogan said he was seriously concerned that the resolution would harm ties between the US and Turkey, and the ambassador was being recalled for consultations.
The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted to label as “genocide” the massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces, despite pressure from the Obama administration and Turkey to drop the matter.
But it was unclear whether the measure will get a floor vote.
It calls on President Barack Obama to ensure US policy formally refers to the massacre as genocide, putting him in a tight …