World Audio/Video - NPR

A special report from All Things Considered and NPR.org explores the challenges facing President Obama, America and Afghanistan in the troubled region and the options available to the U.S.

The H1N1 virus is a major concern for Saudi Arabian authorities, who are gearing up to host millions of Muslims on the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Health officials are making recommendations and monitoring pilgrims, but otherwise can do little to mitigate the virus' spread.

The U.S. envoy to the U.N. rejects claims that the Obama administration's pace of determining a strategy in Afghanistan is a sign of weakness. What would be "weak and dangerous," Susan Rice says, is a rushed decision made without thoroughly considering the implications for U.S. national security.

After a routine resupply mission, the American soldiers disappeared and more than 25 NATO and Afghan security forces members were wounded during the search mission for them, the alliance said Friday.

This week's Planet Money report deals with what economists call the "paradox of oil." We'll meet two men who work in the African nation of Angola. One is an American, who makes big money in the oil business. The other is an Angolan who sells chewing gum on the street.

When the main challenger to Afghan President Hamid Karzai dropped out of a planned runoff, it did more than end two months of election disputes. According to Sen. John Kerry, it also gives Karzai a chance to prove his legitimacy — and to become a stronger ally to America.

The U.S. public is divided on Afghanistan, says Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center. Earlier in the year, he says, majorities supported keeping troops in the country until Afghanistan is stable. More recently, however, only 50 percent said troops should stay, Kohut says.

The overall performance of the Afghan army is reasonably satisfactory, says Ronald Neumann, who served as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2005 until 2007. Neumann says there have been problems with training, and it is important not to push Afghan forces into combat too soon.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., says al-Qaida and its extremist allies are enemies of the U.S. in Afghanistan. She says the Taliban not only is allied with al-Qaida, but poses a threat to the Afghan government.

President Obama says the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaida in Pakistan, and also to prevent al-Qaida from having any safe havens in Afghanistan. To that end, there are 68,000 U.S. troops, more than one-third of them combat brigades, in Afghanistan. They are mostly along the border with Pakistan and in the south.

In Afghanistan, a runoff election was called off this week, handing incumbent President Hamid Karzai a second term. Many Afghans are adamant that Karzai deliver change this time around, and his Western partners have plans to set benchmarks he will have to meet.

Afghanistan experts in the United States, human-rights workers in Afghanistan, Afghan leaders and average Afghan citizens answer the question, "What would success look like in Afghanistan?"

Fearing widespread layoffs, thousands of Opel workers walked off the job across Germany on Thursday to protest General Motors Co.'s decision to abandon the unit's sale to new owners. Their indignation was echoed by Russian and German leaders, who both questioned GM's decision.

The storm could dump as much as 20 inches of rain as it crosses eastern Nicaragua, with the risk of flash floods and mudslides, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.

The United Nations said it is temporarily relocating more than half its international staff in Afghanistan following last week's deadly Taliban attack against U.N. workers — the most direct targeting of its employees during decades of work in the country.

President Obama has said that one of his priorities is to help Israelis and Palestinians negotiate peace. But the U.S. has been unable to persuade Israel to stop settlement building in the West Bank, and Palestinians say without that they are not ready to talk. To get things started, U.S. officials may have to begin with lower-level negotiations.

President Obama is reviewing U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. While he does that, a member of an independent think tank believes Obama should use the review as leverage to force Afghan President Karzai to clean up government corruption. Andrew Exum, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, talks with Renee Montagne about the leverage the White House has.

In a country where nearly half the population already lived below the poverty line, the worldwide recession has slashed all of Mexico's largest sources of revenue. Despite recovery elsewhere, the Mexican economy is shrinking at its fastest pace since the Great Depression.

Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the highest-ranking American diplomat to visit Myanmar in 14 years, offered improved relations Wednesday if its military regime moves toward democracy, putting into action the Obama administration's new policy of engagement with the isolated country.

The Indonesian-language Bibles, which are still with customs, use the word "Allah" to refer to God, a banned translation in Christian texts in the Muslim-majority country. Church officials say the word "Allah" has been used for centuries to refer generally to God. They are challenging the ban in court.

Defense officials said the weapons were from Iran and bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas. It was the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered. Hours after the seizure, Israel had not provided proof that the arms were meant for Hezbollah, and the Islamist group had no comment on the claim.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of Tehran again on Wednesday to protest against the government and last June's presidential election. Some analysts had begun to write off the Iranian opposition as a spent force. But Wednesday, it was clear the opposition has not melted away.

For the past 18 months, the Dutch writer and journalist Alex Strick van Linschoten has been living in downtown Kandahar, Afghanistan, a Taliban stronghold. Van Linschoten, author of See You Soon, If We're Still Alive in Foreign Policy magazine, says the city is a bustling market town, but violence is a daily fact of life.

An Italian judge convicted 23 Americans in absentia of the kidnapping in 2003 of an Egyptian cleric from Milan. The cleric said he was transferred to an Egyptian jail where he was tortured. The convictions mark the first time "extraordinary rendition" was successfully contested.

Five British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, apparently by an Afghan policeman they had been training. The attack has raised concerns about possible infiltration of Afghan forces by Taliban insurgents.

Stalled for 30 years by invasion, war and rebellions, the flow of corpses from outside Iraq to the Shiite holy cemetery in Najaf has resumed. But plenty of risk remains as traffickers share the country's borders with drug smugglers and other criminals — a price they're willing to pay for the hefty compensation.

An Italian judge has convicted 23 Americans of the 2003 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric from a Milan street in a CIA extraordinary rendition. Judge Oscar Magi told the Milan courtroom Wednesday that he was acquitting three other Americans, citing diplomatic immunity.

An Afghan policeman opened fire on British soldiers in the volatile southern province of Helmand, killing five before fleeing, British and Afghan authorities said Wednesday. The shooting raises concerns about discipline within the Afghan forces and possible infiltration by insurgents.

Iranian security forces beat anti-government protesters with batons Wednesday on the sidelines of state-sanctioned rallies to mark the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover.

A key part of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is to win the heats and minds of the population with development aid. There is concern that aid money to Afghanistan actually is helping insurgents. Andrew Wilder, research director at the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University, tells Renee Montagne that aid money often ends up fueling corruption.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is wrapping up a week-long trip oversees. The final stop in Cairo was added at the last minute, to try to smooth over concern in the Arab world that the Obama administration is easing pressure on Israel over settlements. Clinton reiterated U.S. policy that Washington does not accept Israeli settlements as legitimate.

Wednesday marks the 30th anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover in Iran. The day usually is marked in Tehran by anti-U.S. rallies. But this year, protestors unhappy with the Iranian government have taken to the streets. Borzou Daragahi, of the Los Angeles Times tells Steve Inskeep the demonstrations are widespread despite Iran's warning that it would crack down on protesters.

Judges in Italy are expected to hand down a verdict Wednesday in the first-ever trial examining the practice known as extraordinary rendition. Twenty-six Americans, mostly CIA agents, are being tried in absentia, charged with kidnapping a Muslim cleric who was taken to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.

When Ayon committed suicide in 1999, she was just 32 years old — and already a star in the Cuban art world. A major exhibit of her work now under way in Havana has revived an enduring mystery in Cuba — about art, African myths and the shadowy, all-male secret society known as Abakua.

The Marines in Afghanistan's Helmand province are pursuing a counterinsurgency strategy of "hold to build" — pushing out the Taliban and helping the Afghan government bring a sense of normalcy to villages in a region known as the "snake's head."

A recent poll of Australians found that 40 percent believe large numbers of immigrants and refugees coming into the country represent a critical threat. This week is a perfect example of why: The government has been juggling five separate boatloads of refugees trying to get in.

Mexico's economy relies heavily on money flowing back to the country from workers in the U.S. The recession has hit these remittances hard. But as the U.S. recession fades, more Mexican men are traveling north to look for work as Mexico's severe downturn lingers.

Claude Levi-Strauss is widely considered the father of modern anthropology for work that included theories about commonalities between tribal and industrial societies. During his six-decade career, he authored literary and anthropological classics including Tristes Tropiques.

As the U.S. continues what has now become an eight-year war in Afghanistan, the Obama administration must decide on its new military strategy. One group that is often largly looked over when considering Afghan policy is the women who live in the region. Host Michel Martin talks with Ann Jones, writer of the recent article for The Nation "Remember the Women?," and Shamim Jawad, who leads the Afghan children's advocacy group the Ayenda Association, about the role of the war in the lives of the country's children.