America's top diplomat for Afghanistan and Pakistan says the deadly Taliban insurgency in those countries relies heavily on funding from the oil-rich Persian Gulf. Such money even outpaces the cash gathered from Afghanistan's multibillion-dollar exports of opium and heroin, said Richard Holbrooke, the United States' special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, in an interview Tuesday with CNN. "It seems to be more from individuals carrying money in their suitcases," Holbrooke said. "Sometimes they are taking advantage of the pilgrimage [to ...

Britain on Friday rejected claims made by the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi that the release of the Lockerbie bomber was linked to trade deals between Libya and Britain. Saif al-Islam Gadhafi made the comments in an interview with Libyan channel Al Mutawassit, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. The interview was conducted while the younger Gadhafi was flying from Scotland to Libya on Thursday with Abdelbaset al Megrahi on board, according to AFP. Al Megrahi had been serving a life ...

The streets of Kabul were eerily quiet on Thursday, as polls for Afghanistan's second presidential election since the fall of the Taliban opened to little fanfare and even smaller crowds. Children, taking advantage of the trafficless streets, flew kites. Watermelon sellers languished in the shade of their carts waiting for a sale. The only customers were police, who were stationed at every intersection to inspect the few vehicles that passed their way. Kabul residents had been spooked by Wednesday's ...

In Pennsylvania, Tyler Dix, a 16-year-old movie buff, is wide awake by 7 a.m. to cook breakfast for his younger siblings. In Georgia, Tucker Simmons, a 14-year old novice guitarist, prepares ice packs for his mother whenever her chronic lower back pain kicks in. In California, Kaylei Deakin, an avid 17-year old rock climber, disciplines her little sisters when they act out. Tyler, Tucker and Kaylei are three teenagers from across the country who have very different interests, but one ...

Facebook, for better or worse, is like being at a big party with all your friends, family, acquaintances and co-workers. There are lots of fun, interesting people you're happy to talk to when they stroll up. Then there are the other people, the ones who make you cringe when you see them coming. This article is about those people. Sure, Facebook can be a great tool for keeping up with folks who are important to you. Take the status update, ...

Zieba Shorish-Shamley's Afghanistan doesn't exist anymore. The tea and fresh fruit her Muslim family shared over laughter with their Jewish friends at home. The female lawmakers who spoke out in Afghanistan's parliament. The tourists who were so enchanted by Kabul, the country's cosmopolitan capital, they called it the "Paris of Central Asia." When the Afghan native recently returned home, all of those childhood memories seemed like a mirage. What she saw instead was what many Americans now associate with Afghanistan: ...

You're probably not thinking about what you would like for Christmas yet. But ask any environmentalist for their ideal gift and you'll get a version of this answer: a binding agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December that is strong enough to match the science. The talks are the latest in a line of climate conferences that began in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. This year the focus will be on the details of a ...

To the long list of things that everyone else loves but that Muslims are supposed to hate — democracy, dogs, women with uncovered hair — we can now add yoga. A council of muftis in Malaysia issued a fatwa over the weekend banning yoga for Muslims, claiming that the sweaty 'Oms' and other Hindu elements of a standard 60-minute yoga class could "destroy the faith of a Muslim." For a moment, this news had me selfishly worried. I've been ...

A plumber by trade, Ezra Nawi is a Jewish member of a small band of Israeli peace activists who put themselves on the line week in and week out by traveling to the stony hills outside Hebron to help Palestinians defend their land against right-wing Jewish settlers. And he has the lumps to show for it. Four years back, some settlers at Susya had tried to drive a Palestinian family off their land by tossing a dead dog into ...

For the small number of vulture lovers the world over, good news comes this summer from Sindh, Pakistan. In June, a new "vulture restaurant" opened to provide safe food for the endangered birds — no reservations needed, but it's always a fierce fight for the flesh. Similar vulture ventures have already been successful in South Africa, India and Nepal, where one region in which a restaurant started to provide vultures with clean carcasses saw a doubling of nesting pairs ...