Sri Lanka said Saturday it plans to let war-displaced civilians move freely in and out of internment camps ahead of completing their planned re-settlement in two months.

A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle killed 13 people, including a police officer, and wounded 30 others Friday in a busy city square in western Afghanistan.

France's foreign minister walked into a remote Afghan village on Friday to talk with small farmers and local tribal leaders about how to bypass corrupt officials and bring aid directly to those who need it.

Veteran Afghan leader Hamid Karzai was sworn in as president on Thursday, pledging to fight graft and take control of his country's security before his five-year term ends, after a fraud-marred election left his image in ruins.

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai promised Thursday to prosecute corrupt government officials and end a culture of impunity, speaking during an inauguration closely watched by the international community for signs that his administration is moving beyond the cronyism and graft of the past five years.

The Supreme Court rejected final appeals Thursday by five former soldiers sentenced to death in the 1975 killing of Bangladesh's independence leader in a military coup, a government attorney said.

Most Afghans see not Taliban militants but poverty, unemployment and government corruption as the main causes of war in their country, according to a report by a leading aid group released on Wednesday.

Security forces increased patrols and helicopter flyovers in the Afghan capital Wednesday, bracing for possible militant attacks during the ceremony that will cement President Hamid Karzai's tumultuous re-election victory.

Conservationists searching for one of the world's most endangered crocodile species say they have found dozens of the reptiles lounging in plain sight — at a wildlife rescue center in Cambodia.

Rockets slammed into a market northeast of Kabul on Monday, killing 12 civilians but missing their presumed target: a meeting between France's top general in Afghanistan and dozens of tribal elders and senior local officials.