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The US commander of Western troops in Afghanistan, Marine Gen. John R. Allen, denounced the actions of US soldiers shown in photographs posing with the body parts of suicide bombers. The photos were published Wednesday in the Los Angeles Times. The graphic images were the latest in a series of damaging incidents and disclosures involving American troops in Afghanistan, including video that surfaced in January depicting U.S. troops urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban combatants, the...

Karin Enström of the Moderate party will be Sweden’s new minister for defence, announced Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on Wednesday. “I am very happy and honoured,” said Enström at a government press conference on Wednesday. Enström was born in 1966 and has been an MP for Stockholm county since 1998. She is the chairperson of the Riksdag’s committee on foreign policy and a captain in the Swedish Amphibious Group. “Karin Enström is a very experienced politician. I am very pleased that she...

BEIRUT: Syrian forces assaulted an opposition stronghold with a steady rain of mortar shells Wednesday even as the foreign minister promised the regime would respect a week-old cease-fire and withdraw troops from urban centers in line with an international peace initiative. A troop pullback is a key provision of special envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point plan to end 13 months of bloodshed in Syria, but the regime has ignored last week’s deadline of getting tanks and troops off the streets. Instead,...

OSLO: Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik’s claims of belonging to a secret anti-Muslim militia appeared to crack Wednesday, as he acknowledged the supposed crusader network is “not an organization in a conventional sense.” Nonetheless, the 33-year-old Norwegian, who has admitted to killing 77 people in a bomb-and-shooting massacre on July 22, insisted the mysterious group exists when questioned by prosecutors on the third day of his terror trial. “It is not in my interest to shed...

LONDON: London Olympic organisers stressed the importance of creating a legacy from the Games on Wednesday as they started the 100-day countdown by unveiling the event’s motto: “Inspire a generation”. The milestone was marked by celebrations around the world as well as the start of three test events to iron out any operational problems before the opening ceremony on July 27, and Olympic bosses insisted London was ready. “Expectations are high, and we won’t disappoint,” said former Olympic...

TrendPK.com SKARDU: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Wednesday said the country’s armed forces do not want more spending on defence due to disputes. Talking to jawans here, he said Pakistan’s armed forces are wholly united for the defence of the country, adding, ‘We want to resolve all outstanding issues with India including Siachen through dialogues.” “I do not want to answer of the questions raised by Nawaz sharif, the PML-N chief,” Kayani said adding everybody...

KHARTOUM: South Sudanese forces have made a diversionary attack near the contested Abyei region, state-linked media in Khartoum said, as international pressure mounted Wednesday to pull the rivals back from the brink of all-out war. The attack against Sudanese troops occurred Tuesday in the Bahr El Arab River area, 62 kilometres (38 miles) south of El Meiram, said the Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) which is close to the security apparatus. That area is just outside Abyei — a potential flashpoint...

TrendPK.com KARACHI: At least ten people were gunned down in different parts of the city in few hours’ time, TrendPK reported on Wednesday. Two people were shot dead as unidentified gunmen opened fire on a hotel situated at Sakhi Hassan, North Nazimabad. A man was killed in a firing incident occurred in Liaqatabad no. 8. The incidents of firing took place at Pahar Ganj area, Nazimabad, Tariq Road and SITE area. Police say a father, son and a woman were also among the victims. According to...

WASHINGTON: In an election season when the economy is king, the central debate between President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney comes down to what is enough. Enough growth in the economy. Enough job creation. Enough help for those still struggling to get back on their feet. Obama travels to two Midwest states at the epicenter of that debate, hard-hit Ohio and Michigan, on Wednesday to highlight his economic policies and place them in pointed contrast to the sharp budget-cutting...

KABUL: Ministers from the 28-country NATO military alliance met on Wednesday to narrow their differences on how to fund Afghanistan after foreign combat troops leave at the end of 2014, aiming for an agreement next month. Here is a look at troop commitments from the main contributing nations in Afghanistan: * OVERVIEW: According to the latest International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) figures: Fifty nations are contributing troops ISAF total strength: 129,895 THE UNITED STATES: – With...

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia is edging closer to setting a minimum age for marriage, a Justice Ministry official was quoted as saying on Wednesday, following international criticism of cases of child brides. “The ministry has adopted a clear stance on under-age marriages and the issue was raised to the regulators,” Mohammed al-Babetein, head of the Justice Ministry’s marriages department, was quoted as saying in the daily al-Madina newspaper. “It supports setting unified regulations to deal with such...

YANGON: Nobel Peace Prize laureate and newly elected lawmaker Aung San Suu Kyi will travel outside Myanmar for the first time in 24 years after accepting invitations to visit Norway and Britain in June, her party said on Wednesday. Her travel caps months of dramatic change in Myanmar, including a historic by-election on April 1 that won her a seat in a year-old parliament that replaced nearly five decades of oppressive military rule. Her trip will include a visit to the British city Oxford,...

ISTANBUL: Strong winds forced authorities to temporarily close bridges across the Bosphorus strait dividing the European and Asian sides of Istanbul on Wednesday, and Turkish Airlines suspended dozens of international and domestic flights. Traffic across the two Istanbul bridges was staggered in order to reduce risks of an accident, while high winds blowing through western and central Turkey caused havoc on the roads in other cities. The winds kicked up a dust storm in the capital Ankara,...

LONDON: The Bank of England is poised to turn off its money-printing press next month, fearful that inflation will now be greater than expected and prepared to gamble that Britain’s economic recovery remains on track. Minutes of the Bank’s April meeting, combined with a stark warning on inflation from deputy governor Paul Tucker on the same day, signalled a sharp change in tone that could bring forward expectations for interest rate rises. The pound shot up to a 19-month high against the euro...

KABUL: Already tense U.S. and NATO ties with Afghanistan were dealt another blow on Wednesday with photographs appearing in an American newspaper of U.S. soldiers posing with the maimed bodies of dead Afghan insurgents. Senior U.S. officials and NATO’s top commander in the country, U.S. General John Allen, moved quickly to condemn the pictures even before they were published by the Los Angeles Times, which received the photos from another soldier. “The actions of the individuals photographed...