The accepted wisdom was that foreign policy was going to play an extraordinary role during this presidential campaign season. And it did, for a while. John McCain offered himself as the grownup on the subject and Barack Obama made up for his deficit by choosing a foreign policy honcho as his running mate. But the issue has suddenly disappeared on the campaign trail. The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus explains what happened:

"At the outset of this presidential race it looked as though foreign policy would be one of the dominant issues in the campaign.

Adapting the United States to a fast-changing world, extricating its armed forces from Iraq, and restoring the country's standing in the wake of "the global war on terror" would be sufficient foreign policy challenges for any new president. "

The 8th annual Waag Hip-Hop festival is under way in West Africa and the focus this year is on African female rappers. Host Marco Werman speaks with reporter Sasha Gankin about the festival and some of the women artists on the bill.

For our Geo Quiz, we wanted the name of a small African country on the shores of Lake Kivu. The answer is Rwanda. Reporter Judy Goldberg has an update on the rare partnership between Macy's department store and an association of women weavers from Rwanda.

Our daily geography puzzler.

R. Mugabe/ M.Tsvangirai

Anchor Marco Werman gets an update from the BBC's Jonah Fisher on the dead-locked power-sharing talks in Zimbabwe. Three months after an agreement was reached, President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvanigari still can't agree on how to form a new government.

Zimbabwe at the crossroads

South Africa's former leaders were criticized for downplaying the AIDS epidemic there. Now a new president and a new health minister are taking a different approach to fighting the disease. Reporter Rhoda Metcalfe reports.

A Spanish judge has opened a criminal investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed under General Francisco Franco during and after Spain's Civil war in the 1930s. The World's Gerry Hadden reports.

The U.S. and Iraqi governments have reached a draft agreement that includes a timetable for withdrawing American troops in the next 4 years. Anchor Marco Werman finds out more from The World's Quil Lawrence who's in Baghdad.

The World's Aaron Schachter tells us about a new play that opened in Beirut this week. It's an adaptation of a critically acclaimed book about the Israeli curfew imposed on the West Bank Palestinian city of Ramallah in 2002.

The World's Alex Gallafent talks with Marco Werman about some curious British university admissions questions.