Murray McCully says Afghanistan's Bamiyan Province, where NZ troops have been since 2003, will be ready to stand on its own before Hamid Karzai's 2014 deadline.

Ninety-four years to the day after they were killed and buried anonymously in one of the first world war's bloodiest battles, 250 Australian and British soldiers have finally been laid to rest with the recognition they deserve.

The strategy sits for now on a table in a locked-down Afghan capital: Hand over security in all 34 provinces to the government by the end of 2014.

Brigadier Richard Felton points to the maps on the wall of his office in Lashkar Gah, dotted with markers for impending military operations over the long, hot, Afghan fighting season.

Eric Batchelor, one of NZ's most highly decorated World War II soldiers, died in Waimate, on Saturday.

Claims that more than one hundred Iraqi civilians were tortured and abused by British soldiers must be fully investigated, Britain's High Court was told yesterday.

General David Petraeus has formally assumed command of the 130,000-strong international force in Afghanistan.

Republican chief Michael Steele has drawn fire from his own party for calling the commitment of US troops to Afghanistan a 'war of Obama's choosing'.

When asked in an interview about receiving a 'blood diamond' Naomi Campbell stormed out - but she won't have the same option open to her when she appears in The Hague.

David Petraeus has become Obama's third commander of the war since April last year.