And now to Afghanistan, where a suicide car bombing has killed at least 14 people... including 10 police officers... in the southwestern province of Helmand.

A local official says the Taliban carried out the attack after they targeted police checkpoints. The group controls large parts of the province... and has launched counter-offensives against government forces.

Helmand is the country's main opium source. It makes an estimated 4 billion US dollars worth of the product every year -- making it strategically important to the Taliban.