Kabul

An Afghan judge on Sunday sentenced seven men to death for the gang-rape of four women in a case that has sparked nationwide outrage, with angry protests outside the court and proceedings broadcast live on television.
      

Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed Tuesday for the two men vying to succeed him to end their dispute over election results and save the country from further violence and economic decline.
      

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Kabul on Aug. 7 to pressure feuding presidential candidates to resolve the disputed election result that risks triggering instability as NATO troops withdraw.
      

A U.S. general has been shot dead in Afghanistan, becoming the highest-ranking American officer to be killed since 9/11, in an insider attack that left more than a dozen wounded including a senior German officer.

Washington and Kabul have failed to keep track of hundreds of thousands of weapons provided to Afghanistan, raising the risk that some could end up in the hands of insurgents, a US audit said Monday.        

Explosions and gunfire rang out as the Taliban attacked Kabul airport July 17 in the militants' latest attempt to steal the initiative with the country in the grip of a presidential power struggle.

The Afghan election commission is set to start on Thursday an unprecedented audit of all 8.1 million votes cast in the June 14 run-off presidential election, an official said.
      

Afghanistan's two rival candidates reached a breakthrough agreement July 12 to a complete audit of their contested presidential election and, whoever the victor, a national unity government.

Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah claimed victory on Tuesday in Afghanistan's disputed election, blaming fraud for putting him behind poll rival Ashraf Ghani in preliminary results.
      
"We are proud, we respect the votes of the people, we were the winner," Abdullah told thousands of cheering supporters gathered in Kabul.
      

Trundling down dun-coloured mountain slopes, they ignore hard stares and vulgarities from passing men, revelling in an activity that seemed unthinkable for previous generations of Afghan women - riding a bicycle.