AFGHANISTAN

A new vaccine against polio, being used for the first time on children in Afghanistan this week, will be critical in the drive to eradicate the crippling virus, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday.

A car bomb near the home of a Pakistani provincial government minister killed 20 people on Tuesday, a police official said, in another sign authorities are struggling against Taliban militants bent on grabbing power.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai used a keynote anti-corruption speech on Tuesday to defend the most senior of his officials to be convicted of graft in years, a move that could anger Western backers who demand more accountability.

The government must craft a plan next year to get its ballooning debt under control or face possible panic in financial markets, a bipartisan panel of budget experts said in a report on Monday.

A key ingredient for any climate change deal in Copenhagen this week will be a money pledge by rich countries to help poor ones fight global warming.

The top U.S. military officer warned on Monday the first U.S. troops headed to Afghanistan as part of President Barack Obama's surge can expect more fighting and casualties, hours after 15 Afghan police were killed.

Perhaps it's not surprising, but in the Air Force, combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan increases the risk of depression, according to a new study.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Afghan President Hamid Karzai met at an Afghan air base on Sunday, aiming to fix a relationship that has grown bitter as the Afghan war grows deadlier and more unpopular.

Former prime minister Tony Blair believes it was right to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from power even though no weapons of mass destruction were ever found.

Democrats hope to pack a must-pass U.S. defense spending bill with measures to help victims of the ailing economy, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin said on Friday.

Europe's new military transport plane, the Airbus A400M, made its first test flight on Friday as buyers resumed talks on how to keep the delayed 20 billion euro ($29.5 billion) project airborne.

President Barack Obama has confronted the paradox between war and peace, while receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday there would be no precipitous drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and cautioned that U.S. troops could still be there for years to come.

The United States must uphold moral standards when waging wars that are necessary and justified, President Barack Obama said on Thursday as he accepted the Nobel Prize for Peace.

The following are prepared remarks by President Barack Obama to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Wednesday, Dec 10 , 2009.

NATO will step up fighting in Afghanistan next year as 37,000 more troops join the conflict, and is aware that increased civilian casualties may be the result, a military spokesman said on Wednesday

U.S. President Barack Obama will frame the war in Afghanistan as part of wider pursuit for peace when he accepts the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Thursday, a U.S. official said.

Secretary of Defence Robert Gates visited U.S. commanders in Afghanistan on Wednesday, promising that President Barack Obama's surge of extra forces would give them what they need for success against the Taliban.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday offered modest steps to spur jobs and defended his push to get the U.S. economy growing, amid deep public dismay over double-digit unemployment that has eroded his popularity.

The acting head of Laghman province, Gulzar Sangarwal said Tuesday 13 civilians killed in the pre-dawn raid took place in Armul village led by NATO and Afghan troops.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates told Afghans on Tuesday Washington would not abandon them, describing a withdrawal that would begin in 2011 but be spread over several years to give Afghan troops time to train.