Nine Iraqi soldiers killed in roadside bomb blast

MOSUL: Nine Iraqi soldiers were killed on Wednesday and six people wounded, including five soldiers, when a roadside bomb destroyed a bus west of the volatile northern city of Mosul, police and army sources said.

The soldiers were off-duty and on their way to spend leisure time at their homes, said a police source in Mosul, considered al Qaeda in Iraq’s last urban stronghold, and an army source in the joint coordination office of Nineveh province.

Insurgents have launched steady attacks on Iraqi police and troops in recent weeks, while the U.S. military formally ended combat operations in August, 7-1/2 years after the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein. AGENCIES

11 militants killed in suspected US drone strike

NORTH WAZIRISTAN: Eleven militants have been killed in a suspected US drone air strike in North Waziristan.

Local intelligence officials said three missiles struck a suspected militant hideout in Shawal, near the Afghan border, killing 11 militants.

In another incident, police say gunmen shot a journalist dead in the volatile town of Hangu in the northwest.

Police said the journalist had received threats from militants after publishing stories about their activities. SAMAA

UK foreign secretary’s aide quits over gay rumours

LONDON: Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague has denied rumours he was gay and said one of his male aides had quit over untrue speculation they had been involved in a relationship.

Suggestions about Hague’s sexuality surfaced in recent days after newspapers published pictures of the foreign secretary with his aide Christopher Myers and reported the men had shared a hotel room during campaigning for May’s election.

In a statement issued on Wednesday night, Hague rejected accusations that Myers, 25, had not been qualified to hold the post of special adviser and that there had been other illicit reasons for his appointment.

“He is easily qualified for the job he holds. Any suggestion that his appointment was due to an improper relationship between us is utterly false, as is any suggestion that I have ever been involved in a relationship with any man,” said

Israel, Palestinians set for face-to-face talks

WASHINGTON: With a diplomatic push from U.S. President Barack Obama, Israeli and the Palestinian leaders will start direct peace talks on Thursday shadowed by skepticism on all sides and fresh violence in the volatile West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet at the State Department, relaunching talks after a 20-month hiatus and seeking a deal within one year that will set up an independent Palestinian state side-by-side with a secure Israel.

Obama, who has staked considerable political capital on the Washington talks during a pivotal U.S. congressional election year, urged both sides to grasp the chance for peace after separate meetings at the White House on Wednesday.

“This moment of opportunity may not soon come again. They cannot afford to let it slip away,” Obama said after a day of personal

Railways suspends six passenger trains

LAHORE: Pakistan Railways has announced suspension of six passenger trains due to financial hardships faced by the train service.

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Railways suspends six passenger trains

World simmers in hottest year so far

WASHINGTON: The world is enduring the hottest year on record, according to a U.

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World simmers in hottest year so far

Blast kills 2 NATO troops in southern Afghanistan

KABUL: The international force in Afghanistan says a roadside bomb has killed two NATO troops in the volatile south.

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Blast kills 2 NATO troops in southern Afghanistan

Britain to hand control of Afghan area to US forces: Reports

LONDON: British troops will withdraw from the Sangin area of southern Afghanistan, handing control to US forces which have increased in number due to the American surge strategy, reports said.

Britain”s servicemen would be pulled out of the volatile district in the north of Helmand province, which has seen many British fatalities, British media reported without citing sources.

It is understood the withdrawal of British troops, which number around 1,000 in Sangin, would not begin for several months.

The decision came as President Barack Obama”s surge pumps more US forces into Helmand, with the number of United States marines there now numbering 20,000.

It also followed Britain handing over command in Helmand to an American general last month.

Sangin is the latest part of the province to be handed over from British to American control.

Around one third of the 312 deaths of British servicemen in Afghanistan since operations began in October 2001 have occurred in Sangin.

Iran to build ”powerful” new nuclear research reactor

TEHRAN: Iran is designing a new nuclear reactor for radio-isotope production that is “more powerful” than its existing Tehran research facility, atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday.

Salehi said Tehran will also adopt a “dual-track” policy in dealing with the world powers which imposed new sanctions on Tehran even as they offered to talk with the Islamic republic over its nuclear programme.

“Iran is designing a reactor to produce radio isotopes which will be more powerful than the Tehran reactor and this reactor will be commissioned soon in the country,” Salehi was quoted as saying on state television”s website.

Salehi, who implements Iran”s nuclear programme which Western powers suspect masks an atomic weapons drive, said Tehran wanted to commission several such reactors across the country.

“Our plan is to commission several reactors in the north, south, east and the west of the country so that we can produce radio isotopes for sale and export to the regional and Islamic countries that need them,” Salehi said.

Four police killed in shootout in Russian Caucasus

MOSCOW: Four police and three suspected rebels were killed Wednesday in a shootout in the Russian Caucasus region of Dagestan, a police spokeswoman told foreign news agency.

The shootout took place as police surrounded suspected rebels in a village in the Khasavyurtovsky district in northern Dagestan, the spokeswoman for the Dagestan interior ministry said.

Dagestan, in the volatile North Caucasus region in the south of Russia, has been the site of regular attacks against security services.

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