A suicide bomber targeted international troops in the city of Herat on Saturday, an uncommon event in the relatively peaceful western region of Afghanistan. Five soldiers were wounded in the blast, officials said.
Many US war veterans have settled in the country's southwest. But their endorsement of Vietnam pilot John McCain's candidacy is far from guaranteed because of the way they view Republicans as having conducted the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a departure from its military role in Afghanistan, NATO will target opium trade there in a bid to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in drug money from reaching Taliban-led insurgents, the alliance announced Friday.
US intelligence agencies conclude in a draft report that Afghanistan is in a downward spiral and doubt whether the government in Kabul can stem the Taliban's rise, US media reported Thursday.
A US military inquest has found that at least 33 civilians were killed in a US air strike on the Afghan village of Azizabad on August 22. The report says the US military was targeting militants positioned close to civilians.
In this edition: Pakistan orders the deportation of Afghan refugees; the "star system" makes its debut in Indonesian politics; artists protect their copyrights on the Web; and survive or die in an interactive Web movie on survivetheoutbreak.com.
In this edition: the US presidential campaign focuses on the financial crisis; the PKK and Ankara take their fight to the virtual battlefield; Google celebrates its 10th birthday; and French soldiers in Afghanistan blog about their experiences.
The Week in Asia presents an exclusive FRANCE 24 report on the fragile justice system in Afghanistan and looks at the successful first Chinese space walk and the triumphal welcome home for the three "taikonauts".
