Most girls dream about about falling in love, getting married in a beautiful dress, and having a family. But for thousands of young Afghan girls, and millions more across Asia and Africa, marriage often comes before they are old enough for such dreams — and ends in nightmare.

TBILISI – Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili is likely to scrape an election win on Saturday in a vote the West will scrutinize for fairness, but polls differ on whether his victory will be big enough to avoid a second round.

DAMASCUS – Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called on Friday for unconditional talks with the rival Fatah faction to halt violence between Palestinians but vowed to keep up the Islamist group’s armed struggle against Israel.