John Allen of the Boston Globe usually sits down at the end of the year to write something about the biggest uncovered Catholic stories from the past 12 months. But the longtime Vatican correspondent says he didn’t need to this year, thanks to a news media sensation focused on Pope Francis.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is visiting Washington this week for talks with President Barack Obama over the future of his country once the US and NATO pull out most of their troops by the end of 2014.
The US commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, is under investigation for inappropriate communications with a Florida woman. The scandals are leaving many in Afghanistan with concerns. Anchor Marco Werman hears from the BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul.
Even before the Petraeus scandal widened, General John Allen's time as top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan was winding down. Last month, President Obama nominated General Joseph Dunford to replace Allen.
The Petraeus scandal offers insights into the security of online communication and the media's access to military officials, says Zeynep Tufekci a visiting scholar at Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy.
U.S. officials are trying to come to terms with the rise in so-called green-on-blue, Afghan on NATO, attacks lately. Some experts suspect a rise in PTSD among Afghan soldiers may be a cause of the violence.
Defense Secretary Panetta spoke Wednesday about tensions in Afghanistan. He touched on the issue of attacks by Afghan soldiers on coalition soldiers: so-called Green on Blue attacks.
A Vatican judge ordered Pope Benedict's personal butler and another man to stand trial.
The Vatican reprimanded the largest group of Catholic nuns in the United States two weeks ago for promoting "radical feminist themes." The reprimand was issued after a two-year investigation. The church has appointed an archbishop to oversee reform of the group, but many Catholics have come out in support of the American nun group.