A roundup of links to local stories of global importance from around the world.

A roundup of links to local stories of global importance from around the world.

A roundup of links to local stories of global importance from around the world.

A roundup of links to local stories of global importance from around the world.

A roundup of links to local stories of global importance from around the world.

A roundup of links to local stories of global importance from around the world.

A roundup of links to local stories of global importance from around the world.

While Swat Valley may sound like the training grounds for an elite tactical unit of hot-shot cops that bust up crack houses and neutralize high-risk hostage situations, it's actually quite a lovely region in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan.

This features explores the extent to which Afghan policies towards women have translated into actual change on the ground.

Since Afghanistan emerged from under Taliban rule in late 2001, women's rights have made great strides on paper. But the reality on the ground is a mixed picture.

Simone Kærn’s journey to Afghanistan was inspired by an article she read in her morning newspaper, the DAGBLADET POLITIKEN. Link to a translation of the article that set in motion the events of “Flying Down to Kabul.”

Some fear that Pakistan is likely to become a Taliban-style state, run by hard-line mullahs, where rifle-toting bearded men will dominate the streets and women will be forced to don burqas.

With the departure of the Taliban, the current opium crop in Afghanistan is among the largest ever. How will the world's drug control authorities deal with this fact of Central Asian life? And how will the United States resolve a dilemma that pits the war on terror against the war on drugs?

Forces aligned against the Taliban find themselves in an uneasy relationship with the drug lords who cultivate much of the world's heroin.