of women so oppressed under the previous Taliban regime. What is the role of women now?

PARENTI: There has been some improvements. I mean for... it's a mixed bag. There are many women in the Afghan parliament. Many more then people thought would win in the election. There have been roads paved. There have been efforts to build schools.

$8 billion has been spent over the last four years. But the World Bank has called corruption in the aid sector and development sector sky high. The director there has said this is the worst he's ever seen in his 30 year career. But nonetheless some money has hit the ground. But the main problem is that those efforts, when successful, are now being undermined by the war.

And by the riseBut some in the audience had other ideas, wanting only to talk about anti-Semitism.

He spoke of understanding each other’s differences, and of moving forward as a community to set the stage for a future where people with different backgrounds can feel comfortable.

NEWTON — It was a night Mayor Setti Warren planned to talk about prejudice in his community and how to move forward in the wake of incidents of anti-Semitism and racism in the city’s schools over the past several months.

At points, it devolved into a forum where Jewish activists heckled an African-American woman who spoke of her son being called a vulgar racist slur at school, where the superintendent of schools was booed and needed a police escort to his car, and where a woman held a