Afghan presidential candidates Abdullah Abdullah (R) and Ashraf Ghani (C) embrace as US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) looks on at a press conference announcing an audit of the votes cast in the country’s general election at the United Nations Compound in Kabul on late July 12, 2014. Afghanistan’s two presidential rivals have agreed to a historic deal to audit all eight million votes cast in the disputed election after two days of intense shuttle diplomacy by top US diplomat John Kerry. An audible gasp rippled through a packed press conference at the UN headquarters in Kabul as Kerry made the surprise announcement after hours of waiting, saying that vote-checking would begin within the next 24 hours. Both candidates have vowed to stand by the results of the audit, with the winner to be declared the country’s next president, who will immediately begin work to form a national unity government. The details of that are yet to be worked out. AFP PHOTO/POOL/Jim Bourg