The problem with Afghanistan is that every prescription has a noxious side-effect; every answer raises more questions.

The Taliban is trying to disrupt the second round of the Afghan elections, hence today’s attack on UN staff in Kabul. Having risked death to vote in the first round, and seeing how the government tried to cheat to stay in power, it seems likely that many Afghans won’t bother to vote on 7 November. Who can blame them? read more

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On Saturday, Maziar Bahari was released from prison in Iran on bail. On Tuesday, he was allowed to fly to London to join his partner, Paola, who is expecting their first child.

It’s hard to find the words to express the relief and joy felt in the Channel 4 newsroom. Maziar, who is also a correspondent for Newsweek, has made films for us in Iran, Iraq and beyond. Our team worked alongside him in Tehran during the June elections. read more

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In December 1982, I moved to Kenya. For three years I worked for UNICEF, before becoming a journalist based in Nairobi.

Since I left in 1989, I’ve visited every year or so, but this is the first time I’ve been back to the arid north where Samburu, Turkana, Pokot and other people herd their cattle, goats and camels.

I’m shocked and angry at what I’ve seen. read more

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“Iran has begun negotiations with the six major world powers in Geneva on a wide realm of global issues…. The Geneva meeting is based on Iran’s package of proposals released earlier this month.” read more

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Dozens of journalists have descended on Geneva for what’s expected to be the most futile diplomatic encounter of the year.

The Iranian nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, is to meet what some call the P5+1 and others the E3+3. That means the permanent five of the UN Security Council plus Germany, or – if you’d rather – three European countries (France, UK, Germany) + China, Russia and the USA.

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It’s not often that a serving general talks publicly about the prospect of defeat, but that’s exactly what General Stanley McChrystal, the US force commander in Afghanistan, has done.

His report, leaked to the Washington Post, makes bleak reading for those who would say that if only they had a few more troops all would be well.

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The Iranian government would have us believe that the opposition is dying, suppressed out of all existence.

Since mid July it’s been pretty much impossible for large crowds to gather – every time they do, basiij militia come out to beat people up or arrest them. The opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi said he had evidence that rape had been widely used in prisons.

And yet yesterday, when the government called people onto the streets for the official anti-Israel demonstrations, tens of thousands got out their green wristbands, green banners and posters and started shouting “Not Gaza, Not Lebanon, We will die for Iran!” read more

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I met Mary Elswick at the Free Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Too poor to afford health insurance, she has to rely on charity to treat her gout, neck and leg pains, and a myriad of other complaints, yet she doesn’t like the sound of President Obama’s healthcare reform.

“I don’t know about the government controlling it… That’s a little scary to me as far as socialism and stuff,” she said. I pointed out that the plan for a government health insurance scheme might mean she too could be insured. She was unconvinced. read more

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Journalists and soldiers have very different ways of looking at the world.

Journalists question everything; soldiers accept the task assigned by politicians. Journalists stand back to see how what’s happening fits into the big picture; soldiers set a limited goal and make it happen. Journalists are sceptics; soldiers have to believe in the rightness of their cause.

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