Updated at: 0705 PST, Thursday, November 12, 2009 WASHINGTON: The US envoy to Afghanistan has written memos to Washington expressing deep concern over possible deployment of thousands of new troops to the country, US media said Wednesday, citing senior US officials.Ambassador Karl Eikenberry's classified cables reportedly detail his strong reservations against sending reinforcements until Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government shows it can tackle insipid corruption that has spurred the Taliban's resurgence, The Washington Post and New York Times said.Eikenberry's cables also expressed worries over Karzai's erratic behavior, according to US officials familiar with the memos, the Post said.Eikenberry joined the policy meeting by video link from Kabul, said the Times, adding that Obama discussed his concerns with him, according to officials who requested anonymity.The envoy also voiced concern that sending tens of thousands of additional troops to the war-wracked country would boost Afghanistan's reliance on US security forces as the Obama administration calls on Kabul to take over more responsibility in the conflict.Eikenberry's views are in stark contrast to top US and NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal who warned that without tens of thousands more US troops in the next 12 months, the Afghan mission "will likely result in failure."Four options were on the table at high-stakes talks in the White House situation room, which also involved McChrystal and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, after which officials reported the president had not yet made a decision.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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