Afghan security forces need more foreign training and arms to fight the Taliban but when the forces are up to strength the insurgents will not pose a long-term threat to stability, the defense minister said on Saturday.

The breakaway province of Kosovo holds its third postwar parliamentary election on Saturday, ahead of showdown with Serbia over the ethnic Albanian majority’s demand for independence.

Two of Pakistan’s leading private television networks, ordered off air during emergency rule, said on Saturday they had been forced to close down altogether after being ordered to halt transmissions via the United Arab Emirates.