In Afghanistan, the U.S.-backed president Hamid Karzai survived an assassination attempt yesterday after a * rocket was fired at his helicopter* near the town of Gardez. Karzai was attempting to land in the provincial capital to campaign for the presidential elections. Karzai was traveling in a U.S. military helicopter. After the attack he canceled his trip to Gardez and he returned to Kabul. Karzai has yet to make any campaign stops outside of the capital city in part because of security. Meanwhile eight out of Karzai’s 17 rivals yesterday called for the election to be put off by one month because there was not enough time to campaign because of poor roads, communications and security in much of the country. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.