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The war in Iraq has had a severe impact on the country's children. More than 650 children were reported killed there last year. Iraq's children also have been the victims of kidnapping, torture and rape. A clinic for children suffering post-traumatic stress disorder is opening this month in Baghdad.

The Bush administration has accused Russia of trying to reassert its sphere of influence and says the U.S. won't tolerate it. Russia, in turn, has accused the U.S. of arming and whitewashing what it calls a "criminal regime" in Georgia.

Asif Ali Zardari succeeded his late wife Benazir Bhutto as the head of the Pakistan Peoples Party. Now, he's in the running to become Pakistan's president, following the resignation of Pervez Musharraf.

Tourists in the Czech Republic are not likely to find a plaque commemorating the failed democratization process known as Prague Spring and the generation of 1968. Critics say people want to forget there was a period of communism in Prague.

An attempt to mesh democracy and communism in Czechoslovakia by introducing free speech and freedom of assembly was squashed when Soviet officials invaded the country on Aug. 21, 1968.

A suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into a line of Algerians waiting to apply to a police academy, killing more than 40 people in the most deadly terrorist attack in Algeria in about a decade. The attack appears to be the work of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb, which has been carrying out attacks in Algeria recently on virtually a weekly basis.

Russia says it's starting to pull troops from Georgia, but there is little evidence so far of any significant withdrawal. Many Georgians believe Russia's occupation is aimed at destroying the country's infrastructure.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has resigned to avoid facing impeachment. In a televised address, he said he wanted to spare Pakistan of an impeachment battle. The former military ruler was a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.

American Michael Phelps fulfills an improbable quest with a gold medal finish in his 8th race in Beijing. Phelps now has more gold medals in a single Olympics than any other athlete ever, and some are calling him history's greatest Olympian.

In the next few weeks, Gen. David Petraeus will recommend whether or not to pull more American troops out of Iraq. Lawrence Korb, who helped lead the Pentagon during the Reagan administration, and retired Lt. Col. John Nagl, who helped write the Army's latest counterinsurgency manual, discuss how many troops should leave and how fast.

Not long ago, visitors from far and wide flocked to the sumptuous Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan. But these days, Swat — once seen as the 'Switzerland of Asia' — stands on the front line of a conflict between the Taliban and the Pakistani government's security forces.

Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen each claim the oil-rich northern city as their own. Tensions have stalled plans for provincial elections, and some Iraqi leaders say they'd rather shed blood than compromise over Kirkuk's future.

NPR's Jackie Northam accompanies Special Forces commandos during an air assault on a suspected Taliban hideout. It's the first time a journalist has been allowed to accompany the Afghan-U.S. commandos on an operation.

The head of Georgia's national security council has said the town of Gori, just 60 miles from the capital, Tblisi, had fallen to Russian forces. Moscow has denied the claim. The conflict is over Georgia's bid to seize South Ossetia.

Georgia says it's pulling its troops out of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, the scene of fierce fighting for the past three days, and that it wants a ceasefire with Russia. But Russia says there are still Georgian forces in South Ossetia, and Russian warplanes have continued bombing targets inside Georgia. NPR's Ivan Watson in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Andrea Seabrook talk about the day's developments.

Georgia this weekend prepared for increased ground attacks as Russia sent more troops and hundreds of tanks into the breakaway province of South Ossetia on Saturday. President Bush urged Russia and Georgia Saturday morning to declare a cease fire.

The opening of the new airport in the Iraqi city of Najaf highlights plans to turn this holy city into the "Baghdad of the south" for Shiites. What does the economic boom mean for a country that is trying not to split up along ethnic and religious lines?

Nearly 50 years after revolution brought Fidel Castro to power, Cuba's infrastructure is in shambles. In a July 26 address, his brother and successor, Raul Castro, offered no new plans to liberalize the economy and warned people of even harder times ahead.

Across Iraq, farmers are struggling with the worst drought the country has faced in years. Some say it's the worst they've seen in their lifetime — and not just because of the lack of rain. Some Iraqi officials blame waste and regional politics, as well as the fighting in Iraqi bread baskets.

All four members of the U.S. Table Tennis team are Chinese. One of the players spends 11 months of the year practicing in China because she says pingpong in the U.S. "is really no good."

Like many Americans, a small but growing number of Chinese are worried about what's in their food and how it's grown. The farm of a stockbroker-turned-organic-farmer is an example of how some people are taking the problem into their own hands.

Russian media reports that legendary writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn has died at the age of 89.

A work by Vincent Van Gogh was recently uncovered at a museum in the Netherlands. But it wasn't lost in some dusty corridor, it was hidden under the paint of another Van Gogh. Scientists found it by using a giant X-ray machine.

During the Cold War era, the CIA was the only U.S. spy agency. But as threats to national security have become more diverse, other government agencies — such as the FBI and the DEA — are recruiting foreign informants and pursuing their own intelligence leads. And that's causing competition and conflict.