RIGHTS: Guantanamo is U.S. Gulag, Says Amnesty

Guantanamo Bay has become ''the Gulag of our time,'' Amnesty International secretary-general Irene Khan said at the launch of the human rights group's annual report Wednesday.

DISARMAMENT: U.S. Ramps Up Arms Supplies to Repressive Regimes

The United States has accelerated arms sales to some of the world's most repressive and undemocratic regimes since the Sep. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, according to a new report from leading arms trade researchers.

POLITICS-AFGHANISTAN: Pleasantries But No Change as Bush Greets Karzai

While lavishing praise on his guest Monday, U.S. President George W. Bush indicated that Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai will receive neither greater control over U.S. troops in his country nor substantially more aid to persuade poppy farmers to drop out of the narcotics business.

AFGHANISTAN: In Kabul, Nature’s Call Does Not Get Answered in Toilets

Twenty-eight year-old Jawed holding his breath behind a scarf tied around his nose at a jewellery store on the outskirts of Kabul, in Khairkhana said: ''You can judge the civilisation of a city by the state of its toilets, and unfortunately our city is deprived of them.''

POLITICS: U.S. Caught Up Short by Uzbekistan Violence

Taken by surprise by the sudden and unexpectedly bloody repression in Uzbekistan, the administration of President George W. Bush appears to be backing away from its initial, reflexive support for its authoritarian ally in the war against terrorism, Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

MEDIA-U.S.: A Tale of Two Stories

Here's a question for international news hounds. Who is the ''son of a bitch'' referred to in this comment by a U.S. Defence Department spokesman?

U.S.: Military Spending Leaves Home Front Unguarded – Report

The U.S. Defence Department should cut billions of dollars from major weapons programmes and plough the money into domestic security initiatives, says a new report with far-reaching implications not only for the federal budget but also for dozens of arms makers and other private defence contractors.

RIGHTS: U.N. Afghanistan Envoy’s Sacking Highlights Abuses, Secrecy

Cherif Bassiouni, the top U.N. human rights investigator in Afghanistan until his job was eliminated at Washington's behest, has caused a stir by accusing the United States of obstructing, then ousting him in a bid to cover up abuses by its personnel. Even so, he delivered a grim report on the Asian country.

HEALTH-AFGHANISTAN: Many Still Seeking Medical Help Across Border

Despite the fall of the Taliban government in Afghanistan three years ago and subsequent international pledges made to help the war-ravaged country get back on its feet, Afghans are still crossing into neighbouring Pakistan to seek basic medical services.

/ARTS WEEKLY/AFGHANISTAN: Muted Musicians See Hope in Young Performers

Music might have suffered terribly in the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, but a group of exiled Afghan musicians in neighbouring Pakistan have taken it upon themselves to preserve the musical tradition of their homeland by setting up music academies in this border city.

HEALTH-AFGHANISTAN: Severe Cold Continues to Claim Children’s Lives

Five-year-old Salahuddin, from Samangan province has caught pneumonia and is hovering between life and death in a hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif, in northern Afghanistan. He is one of the thousands of children who have fallen gravely ill because of the usually cold weather here and heavy snowfall, which has cut off the north and central western regions from the rest of the country.

SOUTH ASIA: Smuggling of Sacrificial Cattle Drives Prices Up

With the Muslim festival of sacrifice or 'Eidul Azha' just around the corner on Friday, the region is seeing a huge increase in the movement of smuggled cattle - across the border from Pakistan to Afghanistan - to be slaughtered in sacrificial offerings.

AFGHANISTAN: It’s Boom Time for Pakistani Construction Workers

Lured by greener pastures and a chance to make quick money, skilled construction workers from Pakistan are leaving the country in droves and making their way, across the border, into neighbouring Afghanistan.

ENERGY-AFGHANISTAN: Pipeline Dreams to Be Reality

Prospects for the trans-Afghan pipeline seem good with the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) indicating that it is set to launch a preliminary report on the two billion U.S. dollar project linking the vast gas field in Turkmenistan to Pakistan, through Afghanistan.

AFGHANISTAN: The Adventure of Building an Independent Press/CORRECTION*/

In Afghanistan "there is intimidation, violence, and serious security problems," but "the most difficult thing is to ask the questions without which a reporter cannot exist. Asking why and what for," says Argentine journalist Ricardo Grassi, who has set out to help create an independent press in that war-torn south central Asian country.

AFGHANISTAN: ‘I Didn’t Come Here to Be a Flower Pot’ – U.S. Ambassador

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, gave an exclusive interview to 'Pajhwok News Agency'. He discussed his role in the reconstruction effort and the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan's future.

AFGHAN ELECTIONS: Women Get to Sing and Want a Place in Mosques

In a move to exercise their rights in a new government to be headed by incumbent President Hamid Karzai, Afghan women have asked for separate places to worship in Afghanistan's mosques venturing for the first time into a controversy that has divided religious authorities in the war-torn country for years.

AFGHAN ELECTIONS: After the Euphoria, Daunting Tasks Await Karzai

The easy part for Afghanistan's incumbent President Hamid Karzai will be winning a large majority in the country's landmark presidential polls. The tough test, however, will be the task ahead of him - one that could either make or break the presidency.

AFGHAN ELECTIONS: Refugees Want Karzai As Their Man

As Afghanistan gets ready to start counting votes Wednesday from a historic presidential election, after several key candidates threatened to declare the poll illegal, Afghan refugees living in Pakistan were confident incumbent president Hamid Karzai would become the first-ever legitimate head of state and speed up efforts for much-needed peace in the war-torn country.

AFGHAN ELECTIONS: Irregularities Prompt Candidates’ Protests

Voter turnout was heavy in Afghanistan's first direct presidential election in recent history, but irregularities in the voting process prompted calls for the results to be nullified.

RIGHTS-AFGHANISTAN: Men Lay Ground Rules for Women Refugee Voters

''We are trying our level best to educate Afghan women on the election process. But their men seem determined to prevent them from voting on election day,'' says electoral officer Shahla Ghaffar Khan.