Below are developments in the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, as President Donald Trump unveiled Monday his new strategy for the country and cleared the way to send thousands more U.S. troops there.

Currently 8,400 American soldiers are taking part in NATO's operation in Afghanistan, which comprises a total of 13,000 troops in all. Most of them are charged with overseeing and training Afghan forces.

After North Korea and the United States traded bellicose threats of nuclear conflagration, all eyes will be on an annual war game in the South next week that could send tensions spiraling back upwards, analysts say.

Below are developments in the diplomatic crisis pitting Qatar against Saudi Arabia and its allies, who cut ties with Doha more than two months ago, accusing it of backing extremists.

From barbed grins in a carefully synchronised daily flag ceremony to murderous exchanges across barbed wire in Kashmir, the India-Pakistan border is a 70-year-old scar that will not heal.

Tensions between the United States and North Korea tend to flare suddenly and fade almost as quickly — but the latest escalation won't likely go away quite so easily.

Events closer to home, including deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Virginia, could demand more of President Donald Trump's attention in the days ahead and cut into the volume and frequency of his fiery North Korea rhetoric.

The crisis over North Korea's nuclear program deepened Thursday when US President Donald Trump underscored his threat to rain "fire and fury" on Kim Jong-Un's regime by saying his apocalyptic warning perhaps "wasn't tough enough."

The latest escalation in the stand-off has set the world on edge, with stock markets down and jittery observers now openly pondering whether the risk of nuclear conflict is real.

The Taliban -- which banned poppy cultivation when it ruled Afghanistan -- now appears to wield significant control over the war-torn country's heroin production line, providing insurgents with billions of dollars, officials have told AFP.

In 2016 Afghanistan, which produces 80 percent of the world's opium, made around 4,800 tonnes of the drug bringing in revenues of three billion dollars, according to the United Nations.

The powerful military in riot-torn Venezuela has sworn "unconditional loyalty" to the leftist government of embattled President Nicolas Maduro. It is a key player in the ongoing political crisis.

Maduro in turn has granted it vast powers, not just in military matters but over key government ministries -- active or retired officers head 12 of 32 ministerial posts -- and in vital economic sectors including petroleum. 

From special forces officer to brigade-hopping rebel, Abu Jaafar has seen Syria's uprising from all angles. But after years of setbacks, culminating in cuts to US support, he feels disillusioned.

President Donald Trump has yet to  announce a plan for Afghanistan, and delays in unveiling his strategy point to deep rifts in the White House on how to handle America's longest war.