Female genital mutilation is considered by many to be an African phenomenon. But rights activists and NGO workers say the practice, also known as female circumcision, is also widespread in Iraq's and Iran's Kurdistan regions.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen led his country into the Iraq war in 2003, and NATO has never had a former head of government at its helm.
New York City has been hosting an international conference on global warming this week. But it's not your typical gathering of scientists issuing dire warnings. No, participants at the International Conference on Climate Change aren't here to discuss how to halt global warming. They're here to tell you to stop worrying about it.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is in Brussels, where he is expected to seek more NATO help in Afghanistan. While previous requests have been received less than enthusiastically, defense analyst William Hartung believes Washington may find a more receptive audience this time.
U.S. President Barack Obama's proposal to reach out to "moderate" Taliban to help stabilize Afghanistan has been welcomed by many, including the Afghan president. But can those negotiating partners influence their more militant counterparts? And can the distinction between "moderate" and "extremist" Taliban be made at all?
A controversial romance novel about two gay men, one Armenian and the other Azeri, is flying off the shelves in Azerbaijan. Ali Akbar, the author of "Artush and Zaur," says the book has hit a nerve because it challenges two social ills at once: homophobia and the ongoing enmity between the neighboring countries.
Serbian President Boris Tadic said last week his country is continuing to gather fresh intelligence on Europe's most wanted man -- war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic -- and will arrest him once it has enough evidence. But Charles Ingrao of the Scholars' Initiative, a group of Balkan experts, cites evidence that the U.S. military in Bosnia had numerous opportunities to arrest Mladic in 1996 -- but saw such a move as contrary to U.S. policy aims.
When the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001 and the new government came to power, girls returned to school in many parts of Afghanistan, and women were once again able to work. But a lack of security and the persistence of conservative, traditional values is threatening to turn back the clock.
Scientists excavating a Kazakh site have found the earliest evidence yet of tamed horses. The discovery suggests horses were reined in 1,000 years earlier than is generally assumed.
Former poppy farmers in Afghanistan appear to be growing cannabis instead -- giving Afghanistan the dubious distinction of being the world's top producer of both heroin and cannabis.
Alleged official interference in Kazakh media and political circles gives rise to fears that the government is taking a hard line to avoid expressions of public frustration in tough economic times. Can the authorities keep a tight lid on an anxious citizenry by keeping an even tighter lid on the media?
Concerns about Obama's timeline -- as well as his plans for the size of the residual force -- have been raised by opponents of the war, including two leaders of Obama's own Democratic Party.
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