international

An effort by ministers from the United States, Canada and other members of the 42-nation coalition fighting in Afghanistan to put an optimistic face on the war's progress came close to collapse this week when Afghan President Hamid Karzai was publicly accused of supporting a law that dramatically limits the rights of women.

In villages, people lunge to touch his feet and ring garlands of marigolds around his neck. He sends his security detail into a panic by launching himself into the open arms of the crowd. When an older woman is overcome at his arrival and swoons, he shrugs off the entourage to hold his own water bottle to her lips.

Against the backdrop of humming computers in the underground lab in Toronto's Munk Center for International Studies, a screen flickered, and the most politically explosive cyber-spy network in the world began to reveal itself.

Schools have been burned, students threatened and girls doused with acid.
But even as learning to read becomes a more dangerous proposition, the number of children attending school in Kandahar is climbing.
Hajim Anwar, director of education in this province, said the success is a tribute to parents who want better lives for their children.

The Dalai Lama's world has just gotten a little narrower -- again. For the next 16 months, the Tibetan leader will be banned from traveling to South Africa, a country where he was traditionally welcomed, in the wake of heavy pressure from the Chinese government.

The Dalai Lama's world has just gotten a little narrower -- again. For the next 16 months, the Tibetan leader will be banned from traveling to South Africa, a country where he was traditionally welcomed, in the wake of heavy pressure from the Chinese government.

The global recession is forcing even Santa Claus to cut back.
Santapark Ltd. in Rovaniemi, Finland, which is billed as Santa's hometown, has seen a 12-percent drop in visitors and slumping profits because of the economic slowdown. The situation is so dire the Finnish government, which owned 35 percent of the park, has brought in new owners to overhaul the operation.

Who will be Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's heir?
The Middle East loves to swap theories about the succession to Mubarak, who will turn 81 in May.

Zimbabwe's wily street hawkers have finally found a use for the worthless $100 trillion banknotes that were issued here in January. They sell the bizarre banknotes as souvenirs to foreign tourists for $2 each.

James Etheredge relaxes on his patio and surveys a bucolic scene of green lawns and orchards, where a peaceful river sparkles in the sunshine. But slowly, as he talks of the violence and destruction that surround him, the pastoral landscape emerges as something very different: A war zone.