New U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday on his first trip since taking over the job this week, saying he wanted to talk to Afghan and American officials to ensure a "lasting" success as U.S. troops withdraw.
The United States must learn from expensive mistakes it has made trying to rebuild Afghanistan, where it has spent more than anywhere else, and tighten up conditions for aid and oversight or risk losing much more, the head of a watchdog agency said.
A Japanese photo journalist whose passport was confiscated by the government ahead of a planned trip to Syria said his case sets a dangerous precedent for other journalists traveling abroad to report on foreign wars.
High-profile attacks such as the abduction 300 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in Nigeria and the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in Pakistan are a fraction of what is suffered by girls trying to get an education, the U.N. human rights office said on Monday.
