KABUL, Afghanistan – The author of two best-selling novels set in Afghanistan said the country is moving in the right direction but that the international community must remain committed to rebuilding the war-torn nation.Khaled Hosseini, author of “The Kite Runner” and current New York Times No. 1 “A Thousand Splendid …

  Hundreds of Palestinians thronged two major West Bank checkpoints, trying to reach a key Islamic shrine in Jerusalem on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, despite tight Israeli restrictions. 

  U.S. forces probably will not be a visible presence on Iraq’s streets five years from now, but the United States will remain a force in the country for years to come, Iraq’s ambassador to the U.S. predicted.