Six Taliban suicide attackers launched an assault on a joint Afghan-NATO base in the east of Afghanistan on Saturday, killing one NATO soldier during a prolonged firefight, officials said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan replaced nearly half his cabinet in a dramatic reshuffle after a spreading graft scandal forced the resignation of three top ministers.
Two rockets exploded in Kabul on Wednesday morning, causing no reported casualties but underlining Afghanistan's continuing security problems as many foreigners in the capital marked Christmas Day.
Washington has joined Russia's neighbours in voicing alarm after Moscow revealed it had moved nuclear-capable Iskander missiles closer to EU borders in response to the US-led deployment of a disputed air defence shield.
The US Congress is set to adopt a law next week forbidding Turkey from using American funds to acquire a $4 billion missile system from a Chinese company blacklisted by Washington.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he would not be bullied into signing a security pact to allow US troops to stay on after next year, as he tried to persuade India Friday to provide more military assistance.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday called on the Taliban and their allies to join an assembly on a security pact that could allow some US troops to stay in the country after 2014.
Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached a record high this year as farmers seek to "insure" themselves ahead of NATO forces' withdrawal next year, the United Nations said Wednesday.
Two former Pentagon chiefs who served under Barack Obama have criticized the president over the Syria crisis and his request to Congress to authorize possible US military action.
The United States and the Taliban cleared the decks for peace talks Tuesday even as a deadly attack on US troops underlined the still furious nature of their decade-long war.