One of our Observers alerted us to three videos published on the Internet, which show men stuffing ballot boxes with fake ballots during the Afghan election. Read more and watch the videos...

Four of our Afghani Observers, who have been to the polls today, explain how their country has changed since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 and what they're hoping to see from their next president. Read more...

Afghanistan heads to the polls today. The event however, is likely to be tarnished by election fraud. To prove just how easy it is to buy a fake voting card, one Afghan thought it amusing to get one in the name of... Britney Spears. Read more...

The Obama administration has just handed over five billion dollars to the armed forces to buy more robots. The country's ongoing "War on Terror" employs more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for its operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan than it does manned planes. Our Observer and expert in robotics tells us that the ethical concerns behind the programme have gone unnoticed. Read more...

This little cyber-presenter, Dickie, seems pretty cute. Listen carefully to what he has to tell you however. He's repeating - word for word - press releases from the Afghan Taliban. Read more...

American soldiers can now get closer to their Iraqi and Afghani neighbours before their feet hit the ground. With virtual teachers, soldiers learn the lingo and the local customs at the same time... in a virtual game. Read more...

Five guards from US private military firm Blackwater were charged Monday with the killing of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad last year. As the group faces growing criticism on several fronts, an audio transcript from the cockpit tape of one of the company's planes, which crashed in November 2007, as well as amateur video footage, reveal that the contractor's reckless behaviour can have sometimes disastrous consequences. Read more...

An Afghan student has been condemned to 20 years in prison for having downloaded and handed out a text, found on an Iranian blog, about sexual inequality in the Koran. Read more...

Pakistan and the US came to blows on Thursday after ground forces from the two countries exchanged fire over the border with Afghanistan. One of our Observers in Pakistan says the army was right to defend the country and is ready to fight, while another says the incident was no more than a "lovers' quarrel". Read more...

Gunfire echoes in the streets of Durra, Pakistan. Test firing a 9mm handgun or a Kalachnikov AK-47 rifle in the village’s main market is an every day sight. Read more...