KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 15 (UPI) — An apparent car bomb exploded Saturday morning outside NATO headquarters in Kabul, five days before the Afghan presidential election, authorities said.

CHICAGO, Aug. 15 (UPI) — A Chicago man has been charged with giving FBI agents false information when he told of being approached by jihadist recruiters, federal officials said Friday.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Aug. 15 (UPI) — California declared a state of emergency in Santa Cruz County as a wildfire devoured 5,000 acres and forced the evacuation of 2,400 people, authorities said.

BRUSSELS, Aug. 15 (UPI) — Russia’s recognition of the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia could make the region less stable, the European Union says.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 15 (UPI) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai may end up in a runoff in the upcoming election in spite of a big lead over his closest rival, a poll released Friday suggests.

YANGON, Myanmar, Aug. 14 (UPI) — U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., arrived in Myanmar Friday to meet with military junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe during the weekend, officials said.

GROZNY, Russia, Aug. 14 (UPI) — Four Chechen police officers were shot to death and four others were injured Friday during a search operation in the suburbs of Grozny, sources say.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) — NASA doesn’t have the funds to meet its goal of flying astronauts to the moon by 2020, reviewers of the U.S. space agency’s human space flight program said.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug. 14 (UPI) — Police, interpreters and embassy staffers have been sent to a rural community in Sweden to mediate a conflict among Vietnamese migrant workers.

PRISTINA, Kosovo, Aug. 13 (UPI) — NATO’s chief told Kosovo leaders the newly independent state remains one of the alliance’s priorities despite plans to reduce the number of peacekeepers.