AFGHANISTAN: Baiting the Well-Heeled Diaspora to Return Home

While the influential U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan predicts terrorist attacks before the presidential elections next week, he, however, urged investors not to shy away from the war-ravaged country.

POLITICS: U.S.-Backed Warlords Big Threat to Afghan Elections

Insufficient security forces and a lack of election observers, combined with regional warlords backed by the United States, continue to threaten the upcoming presidential election in Afghanistan, says a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

RIGHTS-AFGHANISTAN: A Minister’s Quest for Gender Equality

For Habiba Sarabi, Afghanistan's minister of women's affairs, the quest to secure women's rights in her country remains a daunting task and it begins with fundamentals such as the expression of ''gender equality.''

POLITICS: Under Attack in Afghanistan, U.N. Weighs Options

The United Nations, which was forced to withdraw its international staff from Iraq last year because of growing violence, is weighing the possibility of downsizing its humanitarian operations in Afghanistan following the weekend destruction of four of its offices in the war-ravaged country.

POLITICS: Better Security ‘Indispensable’ for Afghan Vote – Annan

With battle-scarred Iraq in shambles, the United States is now trying to showcase war-ravaged Afghanistan as a potentially vibrant multi-party democracy on the road to political success, say U.N. diplomats and Afghan experts.

AFGHANISTAN: US, UK Subverting Relief Aid – Agencies

The United States and Britain are being accused of undermining the work of international humanitarian organisations in Afghanistan by misusing aid to advance their military interests.

DEVELOPMENT: Afghan ‘Bomb’ Hovers Over Europe

The illicit production of opium in Afghanistan is a "time bomb" waiting to hit Europe, says a new report by the United Nations drugs agency..

POLITICS-AFGHANISTAN: No Fair Elections Without Security

While more than 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq continue trying to impose security in advance of the Jun. 30 handover of limited sovereignty to the new Iraqi administration, the security situation in nearby Afghanistan continues to deteriorate.

AFGHANISTAN: Everything but Peace

On the flight out of Dubai, an item in the pockets of the passenger seats removes all doubt about the airplane's destination: along with the laminated sheet detailing aircraft safety procedures is a brochure from the United Nations Landmine Action Service explaining how to avoid death or injury from the explosive devices in Afghanistan.

POLITICS: Insecurity Forces Aid Agencies Out of War Zones

As violence against civilians and humanitarian workers escalates in the world's politically-troubled regions, the United Nations and major relief groups continue to shy away from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) or to significantly downsize their emergency operations.

RIGHTS: Failed Promises Imperil Afghanistan Polls, Groups Tell G8

National elections in Afghanistan planned for September will be increasingly in doubt unless western nations commit more troops to the war-weary country, international human rights groups told leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations, gathering this week on Sea Island in the state of Georgia.

RENEWABLES: A Little Light Returns to Afghanistan

New photo-voltaic panels provide power to the offices of Sayed Abdullah in Kabul. Which is as it should be, since he is director of the renewable energy department in the ministry of water and power.

POLITICS: Security, Low Voter Registration Threaten Afghan Polls

Presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for September in Afghanistan could be jeopardised by rising violence, poor voter registration, a shortfall in funding and a deteriorating security situation in the country, a senior U.N. official warned Thursday.

DEVELOPMENT-OUTLOOK 2000: Despite Pledges and Promises, Poverty On the Rise

The poorest of the world's poor - nearly 1.3 billion people living on less than a dollar a day - is expected to keep growing through the turn of the century.

GOVERNANCE-OUTLOOK 2000: The Dream of Democracy and the ‘Good Government’

The fall of the Berlin wall in November 1989 triggered a new era that made liberal democracy the global political paradigm, promising stability and good governance for developing countries.

/REPEAT/DRUGS-OUTLOOK 2000: Increased Threat of Narco-trafficking in New Millenium

In the first decades of the coming century, the world will face more challenges from the narcotics trade as drug consumption will increase, and the staggering amounts of money involved will upset the stability of a number of drug-producing nations, and jeopardise international security, according to several analysts.

/REPEAT/TECHNOLOGY-OUTLOOK 2000: Will the millennium usher new hope?

"In the 20th century nations depended upon natural resources for wealth. In the 21st century and probably well beyond, wealth will depend upon the ability to master the three revolutions of physics, information intelligence, bio-molecular science, and the ways they converge".

TECHNOLOGY-OUTLOOK 2000: Will the millennium usher new hope?

"In the 20th century nations depended upon natural resources for wealth. In the 21st century and probably well beyond, wealth will depend upon the ability to master the three revolutions of physics, information intelligence, bio-molecular science, and the ways they converge".

/REPEAT/MEDIA-OUTLOOK 2000: In the Internet Age, Market is the Driving Force

Almost three decades ago, a campaign aimed at balancing the flow of news and information around the world saw a bruising political war between rich and developing countries, which almost caused the collapse of a United Nations agency.

DRUGS-OUTLOOK 2000: Increased Threat of Narco-trafficking in New Millenium

In the first decades of the coming century, the world will face more challenges from the narcotics trade as drug consumption will increase, and the staggering amounts of money involved will upset the stability of a number of drug-producing nations, and jeopardise international security, according to several analysts.

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE-OUTLOOK 2000: Managing in a Unipolar World

The past year has been marked by large international interventions in Kosovo and East Timor and progress on creating an International Criminal Court.