Back in the capital, I remarked to Lt Gen Nick Carter, the senior British general and deputy commander of all Nato's forces in Afghanistan, that despite its bustling street life the city seemed edgier and more dangerous than when I had first visited in 2003.

BBC: Afghanistan's security prospects after Nato withdrawal

And the city's bustling intellectual life thanks mainly to the university should keep it an attractive destination for the bright and ambitious in all walks of life.

ECONOMIST: The Cambridge cluster

Developed by men who had left their families behind to start a life in Argentina's bustling capital city, the dance expressed machismo, passion, longing and a fighting edge - and was set to an emerging sound rooted in Spanish and Italian melodies, criollo (Argentine-born) verse and Afro-Uruguayan candombe (a drum-based rhythm).

BBC: Anyone for tango?