The face on the cover of Time magazine is graceful, composed and unthinkably maimed. The heart-shaped hole where 18-year-old Aisha's nose should be is a mark of Taliban justice — a visceral illustration, the headline suggests, of "what happens if we leave Afghanistan."
The portrait has quickly become a symbol of the stakes of a nearly decade-old war.

After the hip-hop party was over, newly minted presidential candidate Wyclef Jean sat down to talk business -- promoting Haiti's and defending his own.
The potential front-runner in Haiti's Nov. 28 election told The Associated Press that he supports the U.S. and U.N. vision for rebuilding Haiti's economy after its magnitude-7 earthquake -- a plan that encourages private investment in factories, agriculture and other areas.

President Barack Obama declared Monday that the Iraq war was nearing an end "as promised and on schedule," touting what he called a success of his administration though it comes amid persistent instability and uncertainty in Iraq.

The Netherlands became the first NATO country to end its combat mission in Afghanistan, withdrawing nearly 1,900 Dutch troops Sunday. Canada has announced it will withdraw its 2,700 troops in 2011 and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski has promised to pull out his country's 2,600 soldiers the year after. The move is politically significant because it comes at a time of rising casualties and growing doubts about the war in NATO capitals, even as allied troops are beginning what could be the decisive campaign of the war.

Relief efforts in Pakistan's flood-ravaged northwest picked up pace Monday, but survivors complained about government inaction — a worrying sign for authorities seeking public support for the fight against militants in the region.

July was the deadliest month for troops in Afghanistan, but President Obama says military action is necessary to prevent terrorist attacks.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe gave an emotional and angry address at the state funeral of his sister Sunday. "To hell" with Europeans and Americans opposed to his rule, he said. "We say to hell, hell, hell with them. They will not decide who is going to lead the people of Zimbabwe."
U.S. Ambassador Charles Ray left the funeral during Mugabe's address, but later refused to comment on his action.

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Some school-age children in Uganda are experiencing high levels of lead poisoning, according to researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Children living near the Kiteezi landfill in Kampala, Uganda, have blood lead levels nearly 20 times as high as the typical lead level found in U.S. children. The data are published in the current issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.

The Vatican issued a revised set of in-house rules Thursday to respond to clerical sex abuse, targeting priests who molest the mentally disabled as well as children and priests who use child pornography, but making few substantive changes to existing practice.
The new rules make no mention of the need for bishops to report clerical sex abuse to police, provide no canonical sanctions for bishops who cover up for abusers and do not include any "one-strike and you're out" policy for pedophile priests as demanded by some victims.