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NEW DELHI: India's home minister said Wednesday India was prepared to withdraw a "significant" number of troops from the occupied Kashmir.Briefing lawmakers in parliament, P. Chidambaram noted that violence in the region had dropped in the past few years."I would take what appears to be a risky step of withdrawing a significant number of battalions of security forces in Kashmir," the minister told members of parliament, according to Indian news agency."We are now transferring more and more law and order duties to the Kashmir police," the news agency quoted Chidambaram as saying.Chidambaram, however, did not state how many troops would be withdrawn or give a timetable for their pullout.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Wednesday US President Barack Obama's new Afghan war plans, in particular his emphasis on the need for both a military and civilian effort."The Secretary-General strongly feels that institution-building is a long-term but necessary process that will ultimately ensure the sustainability of the international community's joint efforts in Afghanistan," a statement said."He notes with appreciation the proposed approach to balance military and civilian efforts and the emphasis on strengthening the capacity of Afghan institutions and Afghan security forces in particular."The United Nations last month announced the evacuation of more than half its foreign staff from Afghanistan after Taliban gunmen stormed a Kabul hostel in a dawn attack that killed five UN workers.In Wednesday's statement, Ban reiterated the world body's commitment to Afghanistan."The United Nations...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 WASHINGTON: Washington will press Pakistan to "do more" against all the militant groups threatening Pakistan, its neighbors and the United States, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday."It will be our continuing effort to make the case that the Pakistanis have to do more against all of the insurgent terrorist groups that are threatening them, that are threatening us in Afghanistan and the Afghan people and are threatening other neighbors in the region," Clinton told senators.

Updated at: 2003 PST, Wednesday, December 02, 2009 WASHINGTON: The first of an additional 30,000 US troops deploying to Afghanistan will begin to arrive in two to three weeks, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 LUBBOCK: "The Fabric of Our Lives" may soon feed millions.A Texas researcher has found a way to reduce toxin in cottonseed that until now could only be eaten by cattle. The bovines' multiple stomachs gradually digested the poisonous substance called gossypol.The new seeds can be eaten by chickens, fish and humans and could show up in protein bars, shakes, breads, cookies and other foods within about 10 years. The amount of cotton already grown worldwide contains enough protein to feed 500 million people per year, researchers said."There are a lot of poor people that cannot afford diets that contain a reasonable amount of protein," said Keerti S. Rathore, the Texas A&M University researcher who made the breakthrough. "It will nice to be able to utililize this source."Gossypol drops blood potassium to dangerous levels in humans and can harm the heart and liver in people and animals. Chickens eating only cottonseed die wi...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 SYDNEY: A four millimetre long ‘peacock spider’ that can wave a pair of legs and two patterned flaps as part of a mating ritual has been captured on camera. The tiny arachnid, found in Australia, shows off a rainbow of colours to impress nearby females. It can raise a pair of legs and fan out two brightly patterned flaps at the back of its body. Displaying its spectrum of shades in an attempt to attract the attention of the less vibrant brown spiders, the creature reveals hues of orange, yellow, green and blue. Also known as a Maratus Vilans, amateur photographer Jurgen Otto originally spotted the colourful creature in the wild. However, as it is only 4mm long, he found it easier to capture images in his Sydney home. The spider also uses its third pair of legs in the mating display, raising them to show a brush of black hairs and white tips. The spider can also jump, but the common belief that it can use its patterned flaps to glide through the air is an u...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 LONDON: Twitter has had quite a year. Not only has it attracted worldwide attention and millions of new users, "Twitter" has been named the top word in the English language for 2009.According to the Global Language Monitor, which examines language usage across the world, "Twitter" beat out "Obama," "H1N1," "stimulus," and "vampire" to take the crown. Interestingly, "2.0" came in at sixth place."In a year dominated by world-shaking political events, a pandemic, the aftereffects of a financial tsunami, and the death of a revered pop icon, the word 'Twitter' stands above all the other words," Paul JJ Payack, president of Global Language Monitor, said Sunday in a statement. "Twitter represents a new form of social interaction, where all communication is reduced to 140 characters. Being limited to strict formats did wonders for the sonnet and haiku. One wonders where th...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 KANDAHAR: The Taliban vowed Wednesday to step up resistance and fight against the extra 30,000 American troops US President Barack Obama has ordered to Afghanistan, a spokesman said. "Obama will witness lots of coffins heading to America from Afghanistan," spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahamdi said by telephone from an unknown location. "Their hope to control Afghanistan by military means will not become reality. The extra 30,000 troops that will come to Afghanistan will provoke stronger resistance and fighting," he added. "They will withdraw shamefully. They cannot achieve their hopes and goals," the spokesman said.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 HONG KONG: A ring with a chickpea-sized pink diamond has fetched a record price of 10.8 million dollars at an auction in Hong Kong, Christie's said on Wednesday.The auction house said the five-carat jewel, dubbed Vivid Pink, set a per-carat world record for a diamond at the Tuesday evening sale, beating a Hong Kong property tycoon's 10.5 million dollar winning bid for a seven-carat blue diamond in Geneva earlier this year.An unidentified Asian buyer made the record-smashing bid on Vivid Pink, the highest-priced lot at Christie's sale this week.Vivid Pink's pre-sale estimate was between five and seven million dollars."This definitely went above its high estimate, but that is what the market thought it was worth," a Christie's spokeswoman said."We think this will probably hold for quite some time -- it's a very strong price."Asian jewellery buyers have become "an extremely important group" for the auction...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 WASHINGTON: It only takes one individual in a group to begin to feel lonely for the feeling to spread to others, a US study said Tuesday.After tracking over 5,100 people and their social contacts over 10 years, researchers found that loneliness can be contagious and that lonely, disconnected people tend to move to the fringes of social networks."On the periphery, people have fewer friends, yet their loneliness leads them to losing the few ties they have left," said University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo, the study's lead author.Before lonely people sever relationships, they transmit loneliness to their friends who then also become lonely, according to the federally-funded study published in the December issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology."These reinforcing effects mean that our social fabric can fray at the edges, like a yarn that comes loose at the end of a crocheted sweater," explained Cacioppo, who...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 NEW DELHI: India Home Minister P Chidambaram Wednesday said Kashmiri groups have responded positively to the Centre's initiative of "quiet talks" and hoped a solution will emerge.Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, he said the government would not shy away from talking to any organisation, some of which are demanding self-rule.The Home Minister said there was "very positive response" and the government was willing to talk to "every shade of political opinion" in Jammu and Kashmir."These will be quiet talks, quiet diplomacy... far away from the glare of media," he said, adding he could not share details of the talks at this moment.Noting that the response to the proposal was encouraging, he hoped a "solution will emerge."Chidambaram said Jammu and Kashmir had a number of groups with a number of demands.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 BRUSSELS: The head of NATO said he expects allies to provide at least 5,000 troops for Afghanistan and possibly a few thousand more after President Barack Obama announced a big increase in U.S. forces for the country."There are 43 countries on the ground under NATO command and I am confident that other allies and partners will also make a substantial increase in their contributions," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement after Obama's announcement."I expect at least 5,000 more forces from other countries in our alliance and possibly a few thousand more," the NATO secretary-general said in the televised statement, released on Wednesday.

Mariah Carey's promotional visit to the UK has generated no end of reports about outrageous diva-style behaviour. The latest revelations come courtesy of GMTV presenter Kate Garraway, who claims Carey brought her own toilet roll to a recent pre-recorded interview with Lorraine Kelly. Besides revealing Carey’s lavatorial arrangements, Garraway, who wasn't present in the GMTV studios at the time, told New magazine: "While Mariah was very nice, the amount of people she had in her entourage was hilarious. They outnumbered the entire GMTV crew! "She had two people to lower her on to the GMTV sofa, in case her dress got crushed, one person to walk in front of her backwards at all times in case she fell over and several people behind the camera making sure she was going to be filmed from the right angle." Garraway's claims come after reports that Carey's rider demands of 20 white kittens and 100 doves for her switching on of the Christmas lights at Westfield sh...

The death of a former Miss Argentina after a routine buttock implants operation has reignited a long-running debate on the prevalence of cosmetic surgery in the South American country. Solange Magnano (above), who was crowned Miss Argentina in 1994, was rushed to hospital last week shortly after the gluteoplasty, which she hoped would give her firmer buttocks. She died on Sunday of a pulmonary embolism after three days in intensive care. Robert Piazza, a fashion designer and friend of Magnano, said the 38-year-old model, who leaves behind a husband and twin daughters, had been obsessing over her appearance as her modelling career drew to an end. "Solange was a girl who had everything," he said. "She lived the life of a goddess, she was the envy of everybody. Now she is dead because she wanted a slightly firmer behind. She died because of her obsession with beauty." Piazza called for an investigation into the clinic responsible for the operation, saying Solange had ...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 KABUL: The extra 30,000 troops that U.S. President Barack Obama ordered for Afghanistan will "make a huge difference" in the country, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChyrstal, said on Wednesday."I think we can do an awful lot with those forces," McChrystal told reporters, referring not only to the U.S. troops but the additional troops being pledged by U.S. allies and Afghan forces."I think it's going to make a huge difference. I think we'll be in great shape," McChrystal said.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 NEW YORK: US President Barack Obama ordered an additional 30,000 US troops into Afghanistan on Tuesday night, but balanced the buildup with a pledge to impatient Americans to begin withdrawing US forces from July, 2011.Obama unveiled his plans in a long-anticipated, high-profile speech broadcast from the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, in what could become a defining moment of his presidency and a political gamble that may weigh heavily on his chances for a second White House term.The president said his new policy was designed to ‘bring this war to a successful conclusion.’ The troop buildup will begin almost immediately —the first Marines will be in place by Christmas —and will cost $30 billion for the first year alone.‘We must deny al-Qaida a safe haven,’ Obama said in articulating US military goals for a war that has dragged on for eight years. ‘We must reverse the Taliban's momentum. ... And we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanist...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 MOSCOW: Militants from the North Caucasus have claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing of a Russian passenger train, according to a statement posted Wednesday on a website linked to Chechen rebels.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 PARIS: France and Germany refused US requests to immediately promise more troops for Afghanistan, frustrating President Barack Obama's hopes that allies would match his troop surge. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, terming Obama’s new Afghan policy encouraging, stressed on the world community to support it. However, he said that France would wait until January 28 International Conference on Afghanistan in London for taking any decision, affirmative or negative, on sending more troops to Afghanistan.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country would also wait until after the London Afghanistan Conference and the decision to send more German troops to Afghanistan could not be taken before that. She said that Afghanistan security issue could not be solved by military means only.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday there was no need to hold talks with the West over the country's disputed nuclear activities."Iran's nuclear issue has been resolved ... We will hold no talks (with major powers) over this issue. There is no need for talks," Ahmadinejad told state television.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 WEST POINT: President Barack Obama renewed a pledge Tuesday that all US forces will leave Iraq by the end of 2011 as planned despite wrangling over holding general elections there. "Today, after extraordinary costs, we are bringing the Iraq war to a responsible end," Obama told military cadets gathered in the prestigious West Point military academy as he unveiled a new strategy in Afghanistan. "We will remove our combat brigades from Iraq by the end of next summer and all of our troops by the end of 2011," he said, praising the sacrifices and commitment of US troops. "Thanks to their courage, grit and perseverance, we have given Iraqis a chance to shape their future, and we are successfully leaving Iraq to its people." There are concerns that wrangling over the date of the elections set for January could push back the timetable for the US withdrawal. The elections were thrown into doubt after Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hash...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 WEST POINT: President Barack Obama said Tuesday that US success in Afghanistan was "inextricably linked" to Washington's partnership with Pakistan. "We will act with the full recognition that our success in Afghanistan is inextricably linked to our partnership with Pakistan," Obama told cadets at the US military academy at West Point.In a prime-time speech at the U.S. Military Academy, the president said his new policy was designed to "bring this war to a successful conclusion." The troop buildup will begin almost immediately — the first Marines will be in place by Christmas — and will cost $30 billion for the first year alone."We must deny al-Qaida a safe haven," Obama said in articulating U.S. military goals for a war that has dragged on for eight years. "We must reverse the Taliban's momentum. ... And we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan's security forces and government."The presiden...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 WASHINGTON: Tuesday night President Barack Obama will announce his strategy for fighting and finishing the war in Afghanistan.Up before dawn, President Obama held an hourlong videoconference with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, outlining his revised battle plan."What the President will tonight announce is an acceleration of that strategy to take on Al Qaeda and its extremist allies, an acceleration of our training of Afghan national security forces," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs explained on the Today Show.President Obama has already issued the orders. The first of nearly 34,000 troops will deploy to Afghanistan starting next month.The president spoke directly to General Stanley McChrystal, then yesterday laid out his plan to leaders of Britain, France and Russia.Among the leading dissenters is Vice President Joe Biden, skeptical like many Americans of expanding the war.Even supporters of the Obama path say time is short."The...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 TEHRAN: Iran hit out at its longtime nuclear partner Russia Tuesday over a yes vote for a censure motion at the UN atomic watchdog and insisted it was serious about plans for 10 more uranium enrichment plants. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that despite the support given in the International Atomic Energy Agency vote on Friday by Russia and China, Western governments would not succeed in their efforts to isolate Iran. In a rare tirade against the government that has been building Iran's first nuclear power plant in the Gulf port of Bushehr and had been expected to deliver advanced air-defence missiles for its facilities, Ahmadinejad said Russia had made a "mistake" in its vote at the IAEA. "Russia made a mistake. It does not have an accurate analysis of today's world situation," Ahmadinejad said in a televised interview.He vowed that despite the setback Western powers would not succeed in isolating Iran and dismissed any poss...

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 SYDNEY: A moderate 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said. Its epicentre was located 102 kilometres (64 miles) northwest of the capital Port-Vila at 06:42 am (0342 GMT), it said. The quake struck at a depth of 39 kilometres. No tsunami warning was immediately issued as a result of the tremor, which followed a series of huge quakes in mid-October that triggered a region-wide tsunami alert. The Pacific is still recovering from an 8.0-magnitude earthquake and huge tsunami that crashed into Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga on September 29, wiping out villages and resorts and killing 184 people.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 CAPE TOWN: South African Football Association President Kirsten Nematendani said on Wednesday the arrival of the FIFA World Cup trophy in South Africa was another step towards the country hosting the first tournament on African soil.The solid gold trophy has toured almost all the countries in Africa since September and arrived from Lesotho on Tuesday amid tight security at Cape Town International Airport.2010 Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan said the trophy represented the hope of all the teams competing for glory and spells the end of doubt in South Africa’s ability to host the tournament.