17,000 more U.S. troops for Afghanistan

Afghanistan is turning a new page in relations with the United States, an Afghan presidential spokesman said on Wednesday, as U.S. President Barack Obama ordered 17,000 more troops deployed to battle Taliban insurgents.

Obama, in his first major military decision as commander-in-chief, said the troop increase was “necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan,” but warned military means alone would not solve the problem.

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NATO expresses concern on Pak deal with Islamists

NATO expressed concern on Tuesday after Pakistan signed a pact with Islamists to introduce Islamic law in the northwestern Swat valley to try to take the steam out of a Taliban uprising there.

“We would all be concerned by a situation in which extremists would have safe haven,” NATO spokesman James Appathuraitold a news briefing.

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A step forward for Darfur peace

An agreement between the Sudanese government and Darfur’s most active rebel group is a step in the right direction to ending the six-year conflict, but there is still a long way to go.

Darfur – a desert region roughly the size of France – has about seven significant rebel factions, who took up arms claiming the region had been neglected and marginalised, but are divided in their loyalties.

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Explosives missing in Gaza

A large stockpile of unexploded weapons has disappeared in Gaza, before United Nations experts were able to dispose of it safely, the BBC has learned.

The explosives, including aircraft bombs and white phosphorus shells, were fired by the Israeli military during its recent offensive in the Gaza Strip.

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