India and Germany ink cultural accord, push UN reforms

NEW DELHI – India and Germany Monday imparted fresh momentum to their joint efforts for expansion of the UN Security Council and discussed ways to deepen counter-terror cooperation.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna held talks with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle that focused on UN reforms, enhanced counter-terror cooperation, climate change and the intensification …. Source article  : India and Germany ink cultural accord, push UN reforms.

Two Maoists arrested after gunfight in Jharkhand

RANCHI – Two Maoist guerrillas were arrested after a gunbattle in Jharkhand’s Palamau district Monday, police said.

The gun battle between police and Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC), a Maoist front, took place near Chaudhasa village in Palamau, around 180 km from Ranchi.
JPC leader Girivar Chaudhary and another Maoist rebel, Vijay, were arrested. Two … Original article on : Two Maoists arrested after gunfight in Jharkhand.

Bomb explosions rock Iraq

BAGHDAD – A series of bomb explosions followed by gunfire rocked this Iraqi capital Sunday, an official said.

At least six bomb explosions went off successively at about 2 p.m. (1100 GMT) in Baghdad’s western neighbourhood of Mansour where sporadic heavy gunfire was heard, Xinhua reported.
An Iraqi interior ministry source confirmed the attacks but … Read more »»».

Two Taliban commanders killed in Afghanistan

KABUL – Two Taliban commanders were killed during an operation by security forces against the militants in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, Xinhua reported.

“The operation covered two villages in Jalai district Saturday during which two commanders of insurgents were killed,” an official statement said.
Taliban militants have yet to comment.
Kandahar has been the scene …. Read the original article  : Two Taliban commanders killed in Afghanistan.

‘Taliban cannot be defeated militarily’

MELBOURNE – A top Australian combat soldier in Afghanistan has warned that the Taliban militants cannot be defeated by military means and called for a fundamental change in strategy, a media report said Sunday.

Brigadier Mark Smethurst says securing Afghanistan could take decades, but success is uncertain without a fundamental change in strategy, The Age …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : ‘Taliban cannot be defeated militarily’.

Taliban trainer of suicide bombers still alive

ISLAMABAD – The master trainer of suicide bombers and a key Taliban commander, Qari Hussain Mehsud, survived last week’s drone attack that killed five suspected terrorists in Pakistan’s northwest.

Qari was believed to have been killed in the attack. But reports from the restive South Waziristan, bordering the Afghan border, suggest he is still alive. …. Original article on Gaea Times at  : Taliban trainer of suicide bombers still alive.

Another Headley wife warned of his terror links

WASHINGTON – Less than a year before the November 2008 Mumbai terror mayhem, a second wife of David Coleman Headley warned US officials in Pakistan that she believed her husband was plotting an attack, but she appeared not to have been taken seriously, the New York Times said.

Headley’s wife, a young Moroccan woman, had …. Read the original article  : Another Headley wife warned of his terror links.