India police arrests ex-telecoms min over graft
NEW DELHI - Indian police on Wednesday arrested a former telecoms minister over an alleged telcoms scam linked to awarding mobile licences, Indian television channels reported, in a move that could weaken the coalition government.
The former minister, Andimuthu Raja, belongs to a key regional parliamentary ally of the Congress-led government and his arrest could spark tension within a coalition hit by a series of corruption scandals.
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US general "militarily uncomfortable" with Afghan date
LONDON - A senior U.S. military commander said on Tuesday setting a 2014 goal for halting NATO combat operations in Afghanistan weakened the Taliban's arguments although he was "militarily uncomfortable" with it.
NATO agreed at a Lisbon summit last November to hand control of security in Afghanistan to Afghan forces by the end of 2014 and said the NATO-led force could halt combat operations by the same date if security conditions were good enough.
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Pakistan safe havens not a "mission-stopper" for US
WASHINGTON - The United States can win its nearly 10-year-old war in Afghanistan even if neighboring Pakistan does not shut down militant safe havens on its side of the border, a top U.S. commander said on Tuesday.
The United States has sought for years to pressure Pakistan to take on Islamist insurgents who have sought refuge in Pakistani border sanctuaries of North Waziristan from where they attack Western forces in Afghanistan. (Compiled by World Desk Singapore, +65 6870-3815)
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