UN: Afghan opium production down

UN: Afghan opium production down Opium production has dropped significantly in Afghanistan, in large part because of a plant infection in the country’s war-torn south, a U.N. report said on Thursday. “This is good news but there is no room for false optimism; the market may again become lucrative for poppy-crop growers so we have […]

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Karzai rival issues conditions for Afghan runoff

The main challenger to Afghan President Hamid Karzai wants the removal of the country’s election chief and 200 other staffers of the election commission to ensure a fair runoff election. “My trust in becoming a candidate was not to be part of the same government, part of the same deteriorating situation,” Abdullah told CNN’s John King in an interview broadcast on Sunday’s “State of the Union.” “Mine was for a change in this country

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Schools across Pakistan close after deadly suicide blasts

Authorities have closed all educational institutions across the county until at least the end of the week, following twin suicide bombings at an Islamic university on Tuesday. By Wednesday, the death toll from the attacks at Islamabad’s International Islamic University had climbed to six.

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Emanuel: Bush never asked key questions on Afghanistan

One of President Obama’s top advisers said Sunday the Bush administration failed to ask critical questions about the war in Afghanistan, leaving the Obama administration starting from scratch — and leaving the war “adrift.” “The president is asking the questions that have never been asked on the civilian side, the political side, the military side and the strategic side,” White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told CNN’s “State of the Union.” Among the things the Obama administration wants to know from Afghan leaders: “Do you have a credible Afghan partner for this process that can provide the security and the type of services that the Afghan people need” The United States faces “a much more complex decision” than just determining the appropriate level of troops, Emanuel told CNN chief national correspondent John King in a rare interview. “It’s clear that basically we had a war for eight years that was going on, that’s adrift, that we’re beginning at scratch, just at the starting point …

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