Sherzai welcomes Obama’s bid to reach out to moderate Taliban elements and end bloodshed. A former warlord tipped to unseat Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan’s coming elections has backed President Barack Obama’s plans to negotiate with the Taliban. Gul Agha Sherzai was the first Afghan leader Mr Obama met when he …

Barack Obama has hinted that the US could talk to moderate elements of the Taliban as part of its strategy in Afghanistan. The US president’s words come ahead of a visit on Monday by Joe Biden, the US vice president, to Europe for consultations with America’s Nato allies on the …

The sermon will be broadcast on Ses on Sunday, the first time state television will have shown a religious address in Kurdish. A state-run mosque in southeastern Turkey held the country’s first official Kurdish-language sermon this weekend, part of the government’s efforts to boost rights for Kurds and meet European …