UK-World Summary
U.S. will be out of Afghanistan by 2017 -White House
WASHINGTON - The United States will not be in Afghanistan eight years from now, the White House said on Wednesday, as President Barack Obama prepared to explain to Americans next week why he is expanding the war effort. After months of deliberation and fending off Republican charges that he was dithering on Afghanistan while violence there surged, Obama will address the nation on Tuesday on the way forward in the costly and unpopular eight-year war.
Pakistan court charges Mumbai attack suspects
ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani court indicted seven Pakistani suspects on terror charges Wednesday in connection with last year's attack on the Indian city of Mumbai, a defence lawyer said. Pakistani security agencies have also detained a former army major for possible links with two men arrested in Chicago on terrorism charges, an army spokesman said.
Israel announces partial settlement freeze
JERUSALEM - Israel announced on Wednesday it was limiting settlement construction for 10 months to try to revive peace negotiations with the Palestinians, but they said the step fell short of their terms for talks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the move, which was immediately welcomed by ally the United States, a major step towards peace.
India on the vigil but remains vulnerable to attacks
MUMBAI - The paramilitary troops outside the Trident and Taj Mahal hotels suggest a higher level of security a year after militants laid siege to Mumbai, but it may all be a mirage as the country still remains very vulnerable. While some improvements in security have meant there has not been another attack by Islamist militants since Mumbai, the country's many chaotic cities and its 1.2 billion people make it almost impossible to plug all security loopholes.
Obama offers U.S. greenhouse gas cut
WASHINGTON - The United States unveiled a plan to cut greenhouse gases by 2020 on Wednesday and said President Barack Obama will attend U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen next month -- before other world leaders show up. Obama would go to the December 7-18 talks in Copenhagen on December 9, the eve of a ceremony in nearby Oslo to collect the Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. He would not return, however, for the final days when most hard bargaining is likely.
More bodies at Philippine massacre site
AMPATUAN, Philippines - Philippine security forces found 11 more bodies Wednesday at the site of an election-related massacre in the south of the country, taking the toll to 57 dead, officials said. Not all have been identified, but 22 of them were believed to be journalists, making Monday's attack the deadliest ever on the media anywhere in the world. Thirty-three of the victims were men and 24 were women, police said.
Prisoner deal hits snag on Hamas demands - source
GAZA - Israel has rejected a demand for the release of several Hamas commanders as part of any exchange for a captured Israeli soldier, a source close to negotiations said Wednesday, signalling talks had hit a snag. "Hamas still insists on its demands," the source, who declined to be named, told Reuters, naming the two top Hamas prisoners as Ibrahim Hamed and Abdallah Barghouti.
Former guerrilla poised to win Uruguay presidency
MONTEVIDEO - A straight-talking former guerrilla fighter is expected to win Uruguay's presidency on Sunday, extending the rule of a leftist governing coalition popular with Uruguayans for its handling of the economy. Polls show Jose Mujica holding a lead of between 6 and 10 percentage points over his rival, centre-right former President Luis Lacalle in the run-off.
Two journalists kidnapped in Somalia released
MOGADISHU - Two freelance journalists released in Somalia Wednesday after 15 months captivity said they were tortured and feared being sold on to hardline rebels in the anarchic Horn of Africa nation. Amanda Lindhout, a Canadian freelance reporter, and Nigel Brennan, a freelance Australian photojournalist, were kidnapped in Mogadishu in August 2008 as they went to visit a refugee camp outside the capital.
U.S. trial for London al Qaeda case delayed
NEW YORK - The New York trial of a young American who was the first person extradited to the United States from Britain on terrorism charges has been delayed until January, a clerk for the trial judge said on Wednesday. Syed Fahad Hashmi, 29, has pleaded not guilty to charges of supporting al Qaeda, which include accusations he kept ponchos, raincoats and waterproof socks in his London apartment for a friend knowing they would be passed on for use by al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.