News stories by Danielle Kurtzleben

Security and diplomacy experts here are calling Thursday's polls in Afghanistan relatively successful, though they caution that the ultimate success of the elections in terms of security and legitimacy is yet to be seen.

The U.S. government continues to withhold even the most basic information about prisoners in the Bagram detention facility in Afghanistan, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a New York-based legal rights organisation.

Facing a worsening security situation in Afghanistan, as well as rapidly approaching elections in that country, the Obama Administration is touting a new, broad approach to winning the fight against insurgent groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Some foreign policy experts are saying that the deepening relationship between Iran and Venezuela, while worrisome, is not currently a major threat to U.S. interests.

The Kenyan government has reneged on its commitments to call on independent, international tribunals to try perpetrators of 2007 post-election violence. This move is being criticised by Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York City-based organisation that advocates against human rights abuses.

With the need for a comprehensive approach toward Sudan growing more urgent every day, U.S. policy remains a topic of disagreement amongst top Washington officials and even within the Barack Obama administration itself.

Agronomists and crop experts fear that an aggressive disease that attacks wheat crops could soon reach Afghanistan, potentially threatening food security and initiatives to curb the cultivation of illicit crops.

Representatives from four major cotton-producing African countries came to Washington this week to engage in a dialogue about what they consider to be unfair U.S. trade practices.

A new poll finds that the populations of a majority of nations surveyed feel that their governments are not doing enough to address the global economic crisis. However, respondents are split over whether their governments should use protectionist measures to bring about recovery.

Governmental corruption and the refusal to cooperate with U.S. counter-drug efforts are worsening a ballooning drug trafficking problem in Venezuela, according to a new report by the investigative office of the U.S. Congress.