Since Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s much anticipated peace assembly earlier this month, the Taliban has launched a series of high profile attacks.  Analysts say these attacks show the Taliban will not back down as coalition and Afghan forces prepare for a major offensive to drive them from their southern stronghold in Kandahar province.
Just this week, Afghan authorities blamed the Taliban for an attack on a wedding in southern Afghanistan, which killed nearly 40 people.  The Taliban denied responsibility, but the groom had links to anti-Taliban groups.  Also, Monday was the …

It didn’t take long before Taliban insurgents, in typical fashion, made their voices heard regarding Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s National Consultative Peace Jirga.
There were some 2,000 of us under a massive tent at the Polytechnic University in the western part of Kabul Wednesday morning:  1,600 delegates, members of the media and assorted foreign dignitaries.  (Some of my media colleagues came in late because:  1. we had to sit on the buses forever before the drivers took us to the event and 2. organizers split us into small groups for the …

A week after the Lahore High Court ordered the ban of Facebook, I finally got the opportunity to see firsthand what is on the site.  I arrived in Afghanistan early this morning in preparation for the country’s peace jirga, and what I discovered on Facebook surprised me.

Via http://www.facebook.com/fightfirewithbeauty (Callligrapher @ deviantART)

I did a detailed search for the various spellings of the Prophet’s name and found seven groups in support of the controversial page that encouraged users to draw Muhammad.  A total of nearly 5,000 people had “Liked” the various pages.  …

I’m not in the habit of referencing 1980’s U.S. power ballads in my blogs, but after speaking with friends and colleagues with me in Pakistan, the chorus of Glam metal band Cinderella’s “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)” comes to mind after going a few days without Facebook or YouTube.  (I automatically started to link to the YouTube video of the song for those who have never heard it, but Firefox was kind enough to remind me that Oops!… cannot connect.  Ironically though, you can hear the song …

As Afghan President Hamid Karzai reaches out to militants before next month’s peace council, some human-rights activists say they are concerned with the types of individuals who may enter the government.  Earlier this week, President Karzai met with a high-level delegation from the Hezb-e-Islami insurgent group.  The leader of that faction is a well-known polarizing figure.

Video grab of Hekmatyar from a DVD delivered to AFP in May 2007 (AFP)

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar first rose to prominence in Afghanistan during the 1970s when he founded Hezb-e-Islami, which means “The Islamic Party.”
Despite its origins …

Today is International Women’s Day — an annual celebration meant to inspire women and celebrate their achievements.  Some countries mark it as a national holiday.  Here in Afghanistan, government institutions, civil societies, embassies and international organizations honor this event anywhere between March 1-10.

While women have made a modest comeback in Afghanistan regarding education and political participation, the country’s acting Public Health Minister Suraya Dalil told me Afghan women still are lagging in one key area: medical care.

In keeping with the spirit of International Women’s Day, I made a point to …

“Everybody off and get on the bus alongside me!”
 
The bus driver was serious. Our bus between Vancouver and Whistler had stopped just outside of Squamish.  The mountains loomed off to my left, just the other side of a port where piles of logs laid near the water and a huge sign read “log homes for sale – anywhere in the world.” But we were not going anywhere.
 
Getting off the bus was a relief. The driver had the heat going so high that I was sweating. Not the kind of sweat …

Pakistanis have told me that the images coming from the relief effort in Haiti remind them of their own country’s massive earthquake five years ago.  The effects of that disaster still are visible.  But despite Pakistan’s current hardships, some people, such as Abdul Sattar Edhi, are working to send aid to the small Caribbean nation.  Watch the story below:

My interview with Edhi — who is known in some quarters for his humanitarian works as Pakistan’s “Father Teresa” — occurred a few weeks after the earthquake struck Haiti.  I spoke to …

Washington got hit with a rare major snowstorm Saturday.  Different areas around the capital city got different amounts of snow, but in my home near Manassas, Virginia, we got almost 25 centimeters.  That’s a lot for a community that has snow perhaps three times a year.
There were reports of power outages in different regions and the local authorities were encouraging everyone to stay home if possible.  The roads were impassable.  The road crews are doing everything they can to clear the major highways, but secondary roads, like the ones leading …

The Winter Olympic Games get underway February 12 in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada.  I will be part of the VOA team in Vancouver and plan to blog from the Games. I hope to bring you all a side of the Games that you won’t get anywhere else.  be even havea I also plan to post photos from Vancouver and maybe even get up close and personal with a few medal winners. Look for my posts here.