Barack Obama cheer up 50th birthday

Barack Obama cheer up 50th birthday ...

Barack Obama hasn't had much to cheer him up in the run-up to his 50th birthday – although he must wish his US poll ratings, currently 43% approval, outscored his years.

But the president – who in recent weeks was battered by the debt standoff that ended with a deal no one liked – seems determined to enjoy the milestone.

Military Parade 66th Anniversary Of Soviet Victory

Military Parade 66th Anniversary Of Soviet Victory ...

66th anniversary of the Soviet victory was held on Moscow's Red Square Monday. About 20,000 soldiers and cadets were matching through the square as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, foreign guests and hundreds of war veterans watched from a podium in front of Lenin's mausoleum.

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) killing at least 9 terrorists and injuring 8

WANA: Security forces claimed to have taken control on two more areas, killing at least 9 terrorists and injuring 8 others, meanwhile, two suspected militants’ hideouts were also annihilated during early launch of military offensive in Momi Karam area of South Waziristan Agency (SWA) right after dawn on Sunday, Geo news reported.

According to details, militants and security forces clashed in parts of SWA amid military operation Rah-e-Nijat against terrorists, which resulted in deaths of nine miscreants while eight others sustained injuries.

Also, forces have cleared all parts lying in Nawaz Kot area, besides, Pakistan Air Force (PAF)’s jet planes shelled on Sarar-o-Gha, Badr, Saam and Laddha areas of agency, successfully pounding two militant’s sanctuaries, sources said.

It is worth of mention that security forces had claimed capturing several villages including village of Hakimullah Mehsud and Qadri Hussain during yesterday’s operation.

Taliban vow to attack Afghan poll

The Taliban has threatened to launch a fresh wave of violence at next month's presidential run-off in Afghanistan, and urged voters to boycott the poll.

The August vote passed off without major violence, but there were sporadic attacks by Taliban militants.

The warning came as campaigning opened. Incumbent President Hamid Karzai faces Abdullah Abdullah in two weeks' time.

The Afghan electoral commission is trying to stop the widespread fraud that hit the first-round of voting.

It is sacking thousands of corrupt officials, and scrapping polling stations where the fraud was worst.

NATO allies are moving toward sending more troops and civilian aid to Afghanistan

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that NATO allies are moving toward sending more troops and civilian aid to Afghanistan.

Gates said he was "heartened" by allies' commitment to the 8-year-old war even as the Obama administration mulls whether to order tens of thousands more U.S. troops to the fight.

The Pentagon chief cited a long-term commitment by NATO partners to remain in Afghanistan until the conflict is successfully resolved.

At a meeting of 28 NATO defense ministers in Bratislava, Gates said he did not seek specific promises of military assistance, and none was given. He described, however, "a renewed determination to see this through."

"There were a number of allies who indicated they were thinking about, or were moving toward, increasing either their military or their civilian contributions, or both," Gates said at a news conference. "And I found that very heartening."

He praised NATO nations for already doubling the number of troops they have sent to Afghanistan over the last 15 months. "People really have been stepping up to this," Gates said.

Gates also sought to assure allies that the United States also will remain in the fight, despite the Obama administration's ongoing indecision over a war strategy.

"We're not pulling out," He said. "I think that any reduction is very unlikely."

He said President Barack Obama would consider specific plans for moving forward over the next two to three weeks.

Speaking minutes earlier, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the defense ministers did not discuss precisely how many more troops might be sent. The U.S. and NATO military commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has asked Obama for as many as 80,000 additional American troops to continue the current mission of countering the escalating Taliban insurgency and protecting the local population.

Rasmussen said McChrystal's request was being reviewed by NATO leaders, many of whom are reluctant to endorse large troop increases before Obama decides on a strategy.

"I have registered broad support from all ministers of this overall counterinsurgency approach, but without discussing resource implications of these recommendations," Rasmussen said.

The top U.N. official in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, also signaled that more NATO troops would soon be on the move. "I do believe that additional international troops will be needed in the future," he said.

Gates spoke before heading into a lunch meeting with officials from nations that have sent troops to Afghanistan. McChrystal also was at the meeting to brief the officials on his on-the-ground assessment of the war zone.

An estimated 104,000 U.S. and NATO troops will be in Afghanistan by the end of the year — two-thirds of which are American.

Other officials, however, expressed doubts about sending more forces amid widespread concerns of corruption tainting Afghanistan's government and its president, Hamid Karzai. Afghanistan will hold a runoff of its presidential election on Nov. 7 to settle allegations of fraud that marred an August balloting between Karzai and his chief rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.

Dutch Defense Minister Eimert Van Middelkoop said his country, with 2,160 troops in Afghanistan, is awaiting the final election results "because the legitimacy of the Afghan government is key," as well as a decision by the Obama administration.

Danish Defense Minister Soeren Gade said allies won't increase troop levels until they're assured the new government in Kabul is committed to the NATO goals.

"I think whoever is going to send more troops to Afghanistan will put up some conditions," said Gade, whose country has 690 soldiers in Afghanistan.

"They need to see the new Afghan president and say: 'If we send more troops to your country, you have to deal with this, this and this.' We have to make sure the new government in Afghanistan are committed to their job before we send any more troops to Afghanistan."

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung of Germany said he also doesn't expect his country to increase its troop numbers in Afghanistan when the soldiers' mandate from the German parliament comes up for renewal in December. The existing mandate allows the deployment of a maximum 4,500 soldiers, and Germany currently has just over 4,200 troops in Afghanistan.

World awaits Iran’s decision on nuke proposal

The U.S. and its allies hoped to secure Iran's approval Friday for a proposed deal that would ship most of the country's uranium abroad for enrichment and ease Western fears about Iran's potential to make a nuclear weapon.

Approval of the draft agreement would be a key victory for President Barack Obama, who has stepped up diplomatic engagement with Iran since he took office in January and faulted the Bush administration for refusing to talk to U.S. adversaries.

Russia and France, which are both involved in the deal, backed it Friday. U.S. officials have also expressed support, but Iran's endorsement is far from certain.

Iran's deputy parliament speaker, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, dismissed the plan Thursday, the first public reaction in Tehran to the proposal, which calls for shipping low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment to a level suitable as fuel for a research reactor — but not for nuclear weapons.

Iran's parliament will not vote on the draft plan, and Bahonar does not speak for the government, which is to decide the matter. But it's unclear if his comments reflect high-level resistance to the deal or the opinions of some influential politicians in Iran

Bomb explosion in a restaurant's parking area in Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

Pakistani police officers examine the wreckage of a car at the site of bomb explosion in a restaurant's parking area in Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009. A car bomb exploded in the parking lot of a recreational facility in Peshawar, the main city in the northwest, and wounded fifteen people.