U.S. to open talks with Taliban
The U.S. hopes the formal dialogue in Qatar will be the first step toward a negotiated end to the Afghan war.
Afghan forces take security lead
The transfer of responsibility for securing Afghanistan is soon marred by a bombing in the capital.
Congress to vote on Afghan visa program
Legislation will determine whether thousands of interpreters have access to promised escape route.
Life and war in Afghanistan: May 2012
PHOTOS | Our continuing photo coverage shows Afghan life as coalition forces fight in the country.
The AfPak Channel |
The un-happening of a civil war
- President Karzai suspends BSA talks as U.S. delegation heads to Taliban office
- The Navy, Marines don’t have to furlough civilians; Monica Medina leaves the front office; McCaskill isn’t buying what Franklin’s selling on sexual assault case; A Harrier pilot’s best man speech; And at Andrews, the cookie program crumbles; plus a little
- Condi had her doubts about the surge; Whither the pivot?; Budgets and nukes: Low-hanging fruit? Dempsey to China; Furloughs to be in full-swing; and a little more.
Galleries

Shahbaz Bhatti assassinated in Islamabad
Pakistan’s federal minorities minister was gunned down in Islamabad.

Making demands across the Middle East
Demonstrations inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia quickly spread.

Making demands across the Middle East
Demonstrations inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia quickly spread.
Special Reports

Faces of the Fallen
Portraits of U.S. service members who have died in Operation Enduring Freedom and in Iraq.
Elsewhere in World
Asia / Pacific

- $7 billion in gear U.S. sent to war will not return
- US scrambles to save talks with Taliban after angry complaints from Karzai
- Militants attack military convoy with RPGs in northwest Pakistan, killing 6 soldiers
- China, North Korea holding strategic talks following tensions, North's offer of talks with US
Africa

- Militants bomb way into UN’s Mogadishu headquarters
- Rights group calls on UN to exclude Chad from Mali peacekeeping force, cites child recruitment
- Zimbabwe's president goes back to court to delay July 31 polls for at least 2 weeks
- Tunisia arrests Muslim cleric for sermon as state cracks down on religious hardliners
Middle East

- New MERS virus spreads easily, more lethal than SARS but source of infection still unknown
- Iran's President Ahmadinejad meets newly elected successor, Rowhani
- Driven by war, a beloved Syrian tradition ice cream sets up shop in Jordan, to exiles' joy
- Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah fight rebels in Damascus suburb housing major Shiite shrine
Europe

- Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom 'in tears' after European firm deletes files from shuttered site
- Accounts and accountability: UK committee says bankers must take more responsibility
- Summoning Berlin's history, Obama calls for bold action by US, Europe, including nuclear cuts
- Gyula Horn, former Hungarian prime minister who had role in opening Iron Curtain, dies at 80
The Americas

- Tropical Storm Barry forms off Mexico's coast, bringing heavy rain as it heads toward Veracruz
- Armed, masked invaders torch buses, building at Venezuela university amid funding protests
- Venezuela: Wreckage of plane that disappeared in 2008 located off Caribbean archipelago
- Few options for Brazil leader Rousseff in facing down protesters' demands
National Security

- FBI Director Mueller says the bureau uses drones for surveillance of stationary subjects
- FBI director says the FBI uses drones for surveillance but does so very seldom
- Obama's call for nuke negotiations with Russia suggests a slow road to new reductions
- Do you have what it takes to become an Army Ranger? How about doing 49 pushups in 2 minutes?

















