By Katharine Houreld PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Mian Hussain is fighting for his political life from a deserted party headquarters, where two telephones sit silently beside him and the footsteps of a tea boy echo down the corridor. One of Pakistan's most high-profile anti-Taliban politicians, Hussain hasn't been to a single public event since campaigning for the May 11 election kicked off. A fiery orator who once electrified big rallies, he now makes short speeches by telephone to small huddles of supporters meeting in secret.

Kabul, May 1 (EFE).- At least 70 students at a girl's school in Kabul fainted on Wednesday as a result of apparent poisoning, the latest of a series of similar cases in Afghanistan. The incident occurred early in the morning at Sultan Razia school, according to what Education Ministry spokesman Amanula Aiman told Efe. The girls, ranging in age from 12 to 18, were standing in line at the door of the school to enter their respective classrooms and suddenly they began fainting.

The Afghan Taliban said Wednesday they were investigating the backgrounds of a group of foreigners seized three days ago, but that the captives were being treated "humanely". Village elders on Wednesday pressed on with talks with the insurgents to try to win the release of the group, officials said. The Taliban seized eight Turks, a Russian, a Kyrgyz man and an Afghan after their civilian helicopter made a forced landing due to bad weather on Sunday in a rugged eastern district part-controlled by the militia.

KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban have captured all aboard a helicopter that crashed in a volatile region of Afghanistan's east, a spokesman for the insurgency said on Monday. The helicopter, owned by air charter company Khorasan Cargo Airlines, made an emergency landing in Logar province late on Sunday due to bad weather, a Khorasan staff member said on condition of anonymity.