AFGHANISTAN

National Geographic Traveler received more than 12,000 entries from 6,615 photographers residing in 152 countries around the globe for its 24th annual photo contest. These winning shots stood out from the pack.

The Australian government is approaching a compromise on sweeping reforms to immigration policy that would set up controversial offshore detention centers and increase the number of refugees the country accepts annually.

Many of the dead were shopping in a bazaar in preparation for the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

The posters added: “This land belongs to Allah and we will make sure that nothing against His will happens here.”

Afghan officials traveled to Pakistan for secret talks with an imprisoned Taliban member, a move that could signal tentative progress towards the Taliban striking a deal with the Afghan government.

Three more U.S. Marines have been shot dead by an Afghan worker on a base in southern Afghanistan, in a deadly 24 hours for U.S. forces during which six American soldiers were killed in rogue attacks.

The Taliban's anger at Khan appears to be due to the former cricketer’s lack of religious conviction and left-wing, secular ideas.

Pakistanis consume heroin valued at $1.2 billion every year.

Egyptian military is tightening their grip over the Sinai Peninsula following an attack by militants on Egyptian security officers Sunday which killed 16 guards. The crackdown on the suspected Jihadists in the region has brought to focus the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel and the tumultuous conditions in the region caused due to the fall of several Middle East governments.

George P. Bush, nephew of former president George W. Bush, will be deputy finance chairman of the Lone Star State’s Republican Party, becoming the latest in a long line of Texas politicos with the surname “Bush” to get a foothold in the GOP.

Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, the interior minister who led the Afghan police force, was also fired.

The world's third-largest employer suffered a damaged reputation in the wake of its mismanagement of security in London, but it may keep growing all the same. It has always done so.

Hundreds of historical relics looted from Afghanistan were recently returned during a ceremony at the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul.

The humanitarian group says it has verified rebel claims that Bashar al-Assad's regime is using the controversial munitions in the civil war

Interestingly, Iran and the Taliban have watched each other warily for the past fifteen years.

No end to headaches over how to deal with Iran's nuclear program, even among the closest of allies.

An agreement signed by the United States and Pakistan on Tuesday has determined some logistical details concerning NATO's usage of Pakistan land routes to transfer supplies to troops in Afghanistan.

An independent U.S. government auditor gives a dismal assessment of American efforts at infrastructure building in Afghanistan.

A roadside electronic billboard in Idaho has shocked the conservative state by comparing President Barack Obama to accused Colorado mass killer James Holmes.

Mitt Romney caused a scandal before his first diplomatic trip to London when he referred to the preparation for the Olympic Games as “disconcerting.”

The British Parliament confirmed on Thursday that members of the country's Royal Air Force operated drones in Libya during 2011.