As NATO prepares to take over military operations in southern Afghanistan from U.S. forces, the Taliban’s increasingly bold attacks are straining the political and security framework of the country.

Suicide bombings, once unheard of in Afghanistan, are now on the rise. More than two dozen suicide attacks since parliamentary elections in September 2005 have raised fears that Afghan militants are …

Experts warn there is slim hope to control this area given its long history of resisting intervention.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s decision to run for a third term in the February 23 presidential election—which he is expected to win—the imprisonment of his main political rival, and the festeri…