Nearly a year after embarking on ending Afghanistan's decades-old conflict, China appears to have made substantial progress toward a diplomatic breakthrough.
A leading democracy watchdog says global freedom suffered a "disturbing" decline in 2014, with Syria ranking as the world's least free country and Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine dealing a bad blow to democracy.
Authorities have begun firearms training for women teachers in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar. The instructions are part of the measures the government is taking to secure educational institutions.
