A music academy at the forefront of an ambitious effort to rebuild Afghanistan's musical traditions takes pains to provide opportunities to underprivileged children and girls.

A new player has emerged on the scene in Afghanistan, intent on preventing any talk of peace. Little is known about the Mullah Dadullah Front, which has claimed responsibility for a high-profile assassination and threats against Afghan lawmakers recently. Nonetheless, intelligence officials and outside observers have been playing down the group's impact.

Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United States says his country is grateful for the support that NATO allies have pledged at their summit in Chicago. Eklil Hakimi told RFE/RL that the agreements reached between President Hamid Karzai and the United States and its NATO partners will send a strong message to the region and assure the Afghan people that Kabul will not be left on its own after NATO ends its combat mission in the country in 2014.

NATO leaders meet in Chicago this weekend for a summit that will focus largely on the alliance's combat-force withdrawal from Afghanistan and its postmilitary role. But contentious plans for a European missile-defense system and the alliance's future vision will also be up for discussion.

The United States' third-largest city, Chicago, will host this weekend's NATO summit meeting and thousands of activists from across the country are using the occasion to press their agendas before the eyes of the world's media.

When NATO meets in Chicago, Washington will be looking for partners to help fund Afghanistan's security needs after 2014. Any takers?

As NATO prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan, Iran has stepped up efforts to increase its influence on its neighbor's territory. But Kabul's wariness of Tehran's intentions has led to tensions and to concerns that Afghanistan could once again find itself the battleground of a regional proxy war.

In an exclusive interview with a major NATO summit on the horizon where Afghanistan is supposed to dominate the agenda, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen talks about a range of issues, including expressing regret that Moscow continues to see missile defense as a national threat.

Afghanistan's history of war, violence, and suppression is seen as contributing greatly to mental illness among its citizens. But while there is an abundance of sufferers, modern facilities and treatments are in short supply.