The latest news on the Economy, Cost of War, Health Care, U.S.-Canada, Pope in Middle East, Iran-U.S. Journalist Free, Sri Lanka, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, South Africa, and Select Op-eds.

Afghanistan. “Afghanistan's leading human rights ­organization is investigating claims that white phosphorus was used during a deadly battle between U.S. forces and the Taliban last week in which scores of civilians may have died.”

Cost of war. “The debate over how — and how long — the United States should fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan returns to Washington's political stage this week as a wary Congress begins considering new funding for the conflicts.”

Economy. “As millions of people seek government aid, many for the first time, they are finding it dispensed American style: through a jumble of disconnected programs that reach some and reject others, often for reasons of geography or chance rather than differences in need.”