Millions of Afghans lined up to vote for a new president Saturday, despite warnings of violence from the Taliban. Saturday's historic vote begins what would be the first democratic transfer of power for Afghanistan; President Hamid Karzai has served for two terms and is not allowed to run for a third under the country's constitution.

They are known as Afghanistan's "Generation America" — young people who've grown up with American forces in their midst — or at least in their country. And now they represent a vital force for their nation's future, as Afghanistan chooses a successor to President Hamid Karzai.

A few weeks ago, Afghanistan’s attorney-general ordered the Kabul police to arrest a fugitive wanted for cheating a business partner and embezzling millions of dollars out of the country. The police quickly tracked down the fugitive, who was hiding inside a residential compound heavily guarded by a private militia.

Juan Manuel Contreras, a church singer and laid-off electrical supply worker, had been honking his car horn and shouting through a megaphone out of the window for half an hour when he turned to me with a question one might only address to a newly arrived foreigner in Mexico.

With only a few weeks until India elects its next prime minister, the country's "demographic dividend" - the young people who provide its best hope of becoming a major economic power - is about to become its democratic dividend.

Partial election results released late Sunday showed Crimean voters overwhelmingly supporting a referendum measure that would see their region break away from Ukraine and join Russia. With half the ballots counted, Mikhail Malyshev, head of the Crimea Election Commission, said in televised remarks that more than 95% of voters approved the option of annexation with Russia over a second option offered, which called for seeking more autonomy within Ukraine.

With no one else on the ballot, state media reported Monday that supreme leader Kim Jong Un was not only elected to the highest legislative body in North Korea, he won with the unanimous approval of his district, which had 100 percent turnout. North Koreans went to the polls on Sunday to approve the new roster of deputies for the Supreme People's Assembly, the country's legislature.