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Afghan officials have said that an accurate death count may be weeks away after a devastating earthquake in the mountains of northeastern Afghanistan, where early reports indicated the town of Nahrin may have been destroyed.

U.S. aircraft punished al Qaeda and Taliban hideouts in the cold, remote mountains near Gardez, Afghanistan, on Saturday while hundreds of Afghan reinforcements with heavy weaponry waited in the Paktia provincial capital to learn if and when they would be pressed into battle against a determined enemy.

In a dramatic departure from years of repression under the Taliban regime, Afghan women shed the all-enveloping burqa and publicly recited verses of the Koran on Friday as Afghanistan marked International Women's Day for the first time in 11 years.

African Commonwealth leaders have defied Britain's call for the organisation to deliver Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe an ultimatum to hold free elections or face punitive action.

With the conventional battle over in the Afghan mountains -- at least for now -- U.S. soldiers and their allies plied the heights around the Shah-e-kot Valley on Friday looking to take down whatever remains of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters and their strongholds.

The U.S. Army confirmed Thursday that 450 al Qaeda and Taliban fighters have been killed since Operation Anaconda's launch six days ago, and estimated that as many as 650 may be dead -- more than half the number of fighters thought to have been in place when the battle began.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (CNN) – Horrifying details are starting to emerge on some of the deadliest fighting in the war in Afghanistan. U.S. Navy SEAL Neil Roberts was apparently killed by al Qaeda fighters Monday after falling from a helicopter. CNN's Martin Savidge has been covering Operation Anaconda and shared details of his experience on American Morning with CNN anchor Paula Zahn.

A Pakistani nuclear scientist suspected of being linked to Osama bin Laden could not have passed on nuclear secrets to al Qaeda, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States said Sunday.

Afghan and American forces targeted hundreds of al Qaeda and other fighters from the air and on the ground early Sunday in the largest offensive in Afghanistan this year.

Five people, including two Americans, were killed and more than 40 others wounded Sunday in a grenade attack at a church in Islamabad, Pakistan.

A Pakistani judge Tuesday extended, for the third time, the deadline for prosecutors to file charges against suspects in the kidnap-slaying of American journalist Daniel Pearl, but warned them that time was running out.

At least five people have been killed and scores of others injured in a grenade attack Sunday on a church in the diplomatic quarter of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has ordered one of his closest political allies to resign over claims made in parliament that a respected high court judge had paid young male prostitutes for sex.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has ordered one of his closest political allies to resign over claims made in parliament that a respected high court judge had paid young male prostitutes for sex.

An Afghan refugee faces separation from his wife and five children whose asylum applications were rejected by Australian authorities.

Afghan children ran, skipped -- and dawdled -- to school on at the start of a new year with women teachers back in class and everyday subjects like maths replacing the Islamic dogma of the ousted Taliban.

U.S., allied and Afghan forces Tuesday pounded al Qaeda and Taliban fighters hidden in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province as the latest military campaign, dubbed Operation Anaconda, continued.

President Bush hopes Afghans will use their new found freedom to celebrate their New Year. Such festivities were banned by the Taliban, he noted in the following statement released Wednesday by the White House:

Skull by human skull, officials have dismantled a key icon of Khmer Rouge atrocities.

Arab leaders are not unalterably opposed to U.S. military action against Iraq and share American concerns about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday.

Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are regrouping in Afghanistan to launch attacks against U.S. forces,Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday, indicating that the war will be a long-term commitment.

An anticipated visit by Chinese naval ships to U.S. ports this year will not take place.

China's desert has grown so much that it now makes up almost 30 percent of the country's land mass.

A fire has swept through a market and nearby apartments in China's southwestern Sichuan province, killing 19 and injuring more than 20, state media reported.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing has summoned the U.S. ambassador to express Beijing's strong indignation and resolute opposition to what it perceives as growing American support for Taiwan.

Chinese authorities have seized two vessels carrying about 4 million pirated compact discs -- the biggest ever haul of pirated discs in China, state media has reported.

China's usually muzzled state newspapers has given blanket coverage to a riot by soccer fans, in a rare disclosure of public unrest that highlights the relative freedoms given to sports media.

A pair of young lions named Zhuangzhuang and Kai Ni are set to leave their home in a wildlife park close to China's Great Wall soon and head to Kabul, where they are expected to become a star attraction.

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has opened the annual meeting of China's parliament promising to stamp out corruption and warning of an arduous year ahead as Chinese industry adapts to increased foreign competition.

The leaders of South Africa, Nigeria and Australia will meet in London next week to consider whether the Commonwealth group of nations should suspend Zimbabwe.

Indian government and religious leaders are trying to reach a resolution over the construction of a controversial temple on a site sacred to both Hindus and Muslims.

The World Health Organization has begun a probe to see if a deadly outbreak of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever has hit the remote Afghanistan province of Ghor.

The World Health Organization is investigating the possibility that 40 deaths in Afghanistan's Ghor province may be signs of a deadly outbreak of Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, officials said Saturday.

Afghanistan is observing a day of mourning for the hundreds of people killed in a series of earthquakes in the foothills of the Hindu Kush.

Four people were killed and six injured after a powerful earthquake rocked the southern Philippines.

Soon after a U.S. helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade Monday, a Navy SEAL fell from the Chinook and was dragged away by three al Qaeda fighters and executed.

Soon after a U.S. helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade Monday, a Navy SEAL fell from the Chinook and was dragged away by three al Qaeda fighters and executed.

Top U.S. military officials said Wednesday details were still sketchy surrounding the death of a Navy SEAL who fell from a helicopter Monday in Afghanistan and was apparently dragged away and killed by al Qaeda fighters.

Unseasonably warm weather triggered bursting white blooms Saturday to mark the earliest opening on record of cherry blossom season in Japan's capital.

English cricketer Ben Hollioake has been killed in a car crash while on his way back from a family celebration in Australia.

European aid is being sent to earthquake victims in northeastern Afghanistan

Here are the key issues at the annual session of China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), which opens in Beijing on March 5.

Family, colleagues and friends have been paying tribute to cricketer Ben Hollioake, who was killed in a car crash in Australia on Saturday.

A grenade exploded at an election rally near the Sri Lankan capital, killing at least four people and wounding 20 others.

Five peacekeepers -- three Danes and two Germans -- have been killed and seven injured in an operation to defuse anti-aircraft missiles in Kabul.

Bad weather has forced al Qaeda fighters involved in the biggest battle of the Afghan war with U.S.-led troops to retreat into caves.

In a video released Thursday by Reuters news agency U.S. missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham held hostage by Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the southern Philippines read the following statement twice:

South Korean police are evacuating hundreds of people from the port city of Incheon after a suspected gas explosion destroyed an apartment building.

Drained, sunburned, filthy and dehydrated, cameraman Scott McWhinnie and I begin loading our backpacks to head to the PZ, or pickup zone.

Heavy fighting erupted in eastern Afghanistan on Monday morning, as allied aircraft dropped bombs and fired missiles on Taliban and al Qaeda positions after more than a week of fighting.