31 July 2009

'Disease Threatens Afghan Wheat Crop', IPS, 30 July 2009

EXCERPT: "Agronomists and crop experts fear that an aggressive disease that attacks wheat crops could soon reach Afghanistan, potentially threatening food security and initiatives to curb the cultivation of illicit crops. The Ug99 fungus, so named for its identification in Uganda in 1999, is a strain of black stem rust, a fungus that kills plants by leeching water and...

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31 July 2009

Jessica T. Mathews & Douglas Alexander, 'The Future Of Afghanistan And Pakistan: The Development Challenge', Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 30 July 2009

EXCERPT: "The international coalition cannot defeat the Taliban without a strengthened Afghan state. It should work through the Afghan government?rather than international agencies?to increase economic opportunity and foster effective political institutions at...

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31 July 2009

'July Is Deadliest Month In Afghanistan For US Forces, Foreign Allies', Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2009

EXCERPT: "The month began with a fatal roadside bombing and ended with word that an American had died of wounds suffered in a firefight. After nearly eight years of warfare in Afghanistan, July proved by far the deadliest month yet for U.S. troops and their foreign allies.Bombs and rocket attacks, ambushes and aviation accidents...

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31 July 2009

'Afghanistan: Mid Year Bulletin on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, 2009', United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan - Human Rights Unit, 30 July 2009

EXCERPT: "Armed conflict is particularly prevalent in the South, South-East, East, Central, and Western regions of the country. It is also spreading into areas formerly relatively tranquil, such as the North and North-East. As the conflict intensifies and spreads,...

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