WASHINGTON/BEIJING – The United States yesterday welcomed  China’s decision to join talks on imposing new sanctions on Iran  and said President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington this month  could set the stage for tougher action on Tehran.

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KABUL – President Hamid Karzai accused the West yesterday  of trying to ruin Afghanistan’s elections, intensifying a  showdown with parliament over whether foreigners will oversee a  parliamentary vote this year.

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WASHINGTON – The U.S. unemployment rate, currently at 9.7  percent, will remain “unacceptably high” for some time to come,  U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said yesterday.

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PORTLAND, Maine – U.S. President Barack Obama touted the  immediate benefits small businesses will receive from his  healthcare reforms yesterday as he made his second speech this  week promoting the sweeping plan to a skeptical public.

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NEW DELHI – India’s foreign minister travels to China next  week to consolidate ties, recently improved by a trade boom and  cooperation over climate change that shifted the focus away from  a border dispute.

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ALMATY – Russia’s partners in a new customs union,  Kazakhstan and Belarus, are getting cold feet about a pact  designed to boost trade between the trio of ex-Soviet states and  add clout to their WTO accession talks.

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MAKHACHKALA, Russia – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev  visited the North Caucasus yesterday to reinforce efforts to  crush the militants behind a spate of suicide bombings including  an attack on the Moscow metro.

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WASHINGTON/OTTAWA – The United States yesterday finalized  its first greenhouse gas emissions rules on automobiles and  significantly boosted fuel efficiency standards for the first  time since the 1970s, moves Canada jointly imposed on its  industry.

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ROME – The rare prospect of three years without major  elections gives Italy a window of opportunity for reforms, but  rivalries in Silvio Berlusconi’s ruling coalition, highlighted  by regional elections, could prove distracting.

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KHARTOUM – Sudan’s main opposition parties have withdrawn  from presidential elections, a senior member of one of the  groups said yesterday, a move that could wreck the looming  vote and damage a faltering peace process.

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NAIROBI – A U.S. warship captured five suspected pirates yesterday after an exchange of fire in the Indian Ocean west of  the Seychelles, the U.S. navy said.