Sonia is much better: Rahul

 

President of India's ruling Congress party Sonia Gandhi, who underwent surgery in the US recently for an unspecified ailment, is "much better", her son Rahul Gandhi said yesterday.
Rahul, who returned here yesterday after attending to his mother, told reporters that "she is much better".
Sonia had left earlier this month for the US where she underwent successful surgery.

we also know  that she is a wonderful lady for  indians politics.Many years ago she become prime minister of india.but she left her sit for indian.So we can say that she is much better for india.

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NATO strikes Tripoli, rebels refuse polls

  NATO planes resumed bombardments of Tripoli after Muammar Gaddafi's son said the Libyan leader was willing to hold elections and step aside if he lost, an offer rejected by rebels and the United States.


Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam told an Italian newspaper that the elections could be held within three months and transparency could be guaranteed through international observers.

He said his father would be ready to cede power if he lost the election, though he would not go into exile.

But Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi appeared to throw the potential concession into question, saying on Thursday that the leader of the revolution was not concerned by "any referendum."

A visiting Russian envoy said the Libyan leadership had reiterated that Gaddafi's departure was a "red line."

The rebel leadership in the eastern stronghold of Benghazi rejected Gaddafi's son's election offer.

"We tell him (Saif al-Islam) that the time has passed because our rebels are at the outskirts of Tripoli, and they will join our people and rebels there to uproot the symbol of corruption and tyranny in Libya," rebel spokesman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told .

A U.S. State Department official also dismissed the election idea, saying it was "a little late for that."

The proposal -- which follows a series of moves the Libyan leader's officials portray as concessions but Western powers dismiss as ploys -- comes at a time when frustration is mounting in some NATO states at slow military progress.

Rebel advances towards Tripoli have been slow, while weeks of NATO strikes pounding Gaddafi's compound and other targets have failed to end his 41-year-old rule.

In the latest raids, eight loud explosions were heard in southeast and southwest Tripoli late on Thursday and planes could be heard overhead. Libyan state television said NATO had hit targets in the Al-Ferjan district of the city.

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Obama ignored legal advice on Libya war

Barack Obama overruled the advice of administration lawyers in deciding the US could continue participatingin the Libya conflict without congressional approval.






The White House insists the president did not need congressional approval to authorise US support for Nato's mission, because the military campaign is limited in scope.



Critics argue the action violates a Vietnam War-era law limiting military action without congressional approval to 60 days.



 Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson and acting head of the justice department's Office of Legal Counsel Caroline Krass had advised Obama that the US involvement in the Libya air campaign constituted "hostilities".


But the US president opted to follow the advice of White House counsel Robert Bauer and state department legal adviser Harold Koh, who argued the US involvement fell short of "hostilities.



US presidents can override the legal conclusions of the Office of Legal Counsel, but it is very rare for that to happen, analysts say.


The War Powers Resolution of 1973 states Congress must authorise participation in hostilities longer than 60 days, although the president can seek a 30-day extension.

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US drops Laden charges

The United States has formally dropped criminal charges against former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US military raid in Pakistan last month.
In federal court in Manhattan on Friday, prosecutors disposed of a 1998 indictment that charged Laden with murder and conspiracy to kill Americans for his role in attacking US embassies in East Africa in 1998.
The bombing of US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killed 224 people.
A raid by US special operations forces killed bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2.
Preet Bharara, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, asked for the change, a request that Judge Lewis Kaplan granted in a brief order.
The action came after a thorough analysis confirmed that bin Laden did indeed die after Navy SEALs raided his compound. The officials noted that facial recognition and photograph analysis confirmed the identity, along with DNA testing of the body.

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US in talks with Taliban: Afghan president

 The United States is holding talks with the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said, in the first official confirmation of such contacts after nearly 10 years of war.

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Although diplomats and officials say talks are at a very early stage, Karzai's remarks highlight the increasing focus on finding a political solution in Afghanistan as foreign combat troops prepare to pull out by 2014.

"Talks with the Taliban have started... the talks are going on well," Karzai said, addressing a conference in Kabul.

"Also foreign forces, especially the United States, are carrying out the talks themselves."

But the problems surrounding any reconciliation bid were thrown into sharp focus shortly afterwards when nine people died as three Taliban attackers armed with suicide vests and machine guns stormed a Kabul police station.

A British soldier was shot dead in an insurgent attack, the defence ministry said, while France confirmed one of its troops was also fatally wounded by militant gunfire.

The militants have consistently rejected any efforts to talk peace in public statements.

"We have already said this and have repeated it many times. We have no negotiation with the United States and we deny any report as such," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.

A US State Department spokeswoman in Washington had "no comment" on Karzai's statement.

"However, we have consistently supported an Afghan-led process of reconciliation," spokeswoman Megan Mattson told AFP.

"Currently, we have a broad range of contacts across Afghanistan and the region, and at many levels, to support that effort."

The US embassy in Kabul did not respond to a request for comment on the latest remarks from Karzai, who is known for dropping unscripted, headline-grabbing remarks into speeches.

Western officials acknowledge on condition of anonymity that attempts to set up contacts with the Taliban are at a very early stage, while efforts to open up a communication channel with Taliban leaders are still being made.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this year called on Taliban members to split from Al-Qaeda, renounce violence and accept the constitution so they can be re-integrated into society.

Drone strikes and covert operations have weakened Afghanistan's Al-Qaeda network and could justify a White House decision to withdraw troops quicker than planned.

20 of Al-Qaeda's 30 prominent leaders in the region had been killed in the past year.

And US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on a visit to Kabul this month that there could be talks with the Taliban by the end of the year if foreign troops make sufficient gains.

A report last month in Der Spiegel magazine claimed Germany was helping to mediate secret, direct talks between the US and the Taliban on German soil while the New Yorker magazine reported in February that the US had begun direct discussions with senior Taliban figures.

Karzai's comments came the day after the United Nations Security Council agreed to split the international sanctions regime for the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

The move sends "a clear message to the Taliban that there is a future for those who separate from Al-Qaeda, renounce violence and abide by the Afghan constitution," said Susan Rice, UN envoy for the United States, which led the campaign for the division.

Afghan attempts to pursue talks with the Taliban have been public for months -- Karzai last year set up a High Council for Peace to look at the issue.

But efforts to negotiate hit an embarrassing set-back when reports in November said a Pakistani shopkeeper posing as a senior Taliban leader had been brought to Kabul for talks with the president before being exposed as a fake.

US President Barack Obama is expected to announce soon how many troops from his country will pull out from July as the process of handing control from foreign to Afghan forces starts.

It is due to conclude in 2014, when all foreign forces are scheduled to leave Afghanistan.

Obama is facing mounting pressure to announce a significant drawdown after last month's killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and amid domestic economic woes and a mounting US death toll.

The Taliban's harbouring of bin Laden was the reason for the US-led invasion in 2001 following the September 11 attacks.

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Woes of famous, powerful shine light on sex addiction

 






Addictions to alcohol, drugs and gambling can destroy lives, but less well known and more controversial is the overwhelming need for sexual satisfaction so intense that psychologists compare it to crack cocaine.

US Representative Anthony Weiner stepped down from Congress under pressure from fellow Democrats, including President Barack Obama, after he admitted to "sexting" in which he sent lewd pictures of himself to young women. He said he was seeking treatment for an unspecified problem.

Golfer Tiger Woods checked into an unspecified rehabilitation center for treatment after admitting to a number of extramarital affairs.

Actor David Duchovny, star of "Californication," is one of the few who has publicly announced his sex addiction. He entered a rehabilitation center for the sex disorder in 2008.

But the sensational nature of the public admissions by the famous and powerful to multiple extramarital affairs, obsession with Internet sexting, or repeated accusations of sexual harassment, draws intense media attention -- and a fair amount of ridicule.

"People joke that if they are going to have an addiction, that's the one they want to have," said therapist Stephanie Carnes, author of "Mending a Shattered Heart."

There is also skepticism among the public and some psychologists that the sexual disorder even exists, but is rather an excuse for infidelity or viewing pornography. There is no diagnosis of addiction at all in the official listing of mental disorders -- the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

But as not everyone who drinks alcohol is an alcoholic, sex addiction is characterized by out of control compulsive behavior. And it can be more damaging to family life and harder to give up than more typical addictions.

Sex, like food, is a primary need for humans. With the advent of the Internet, it is readily available-- either cybersex or quick hookups arranged through online sites. Cybersex has been called the crack cocaine of the addiction. It is also easier to hide and to deny than the more public evidence of drug or alcohol use.

But the consequences can be as severe -- loss of jobs, damaged health, financial ruin and estrangement from family and friends.

"If you look at their lives, nobody would want that. They are devastated, they lost everything, they hate themselves," Carnes said in a telephone interview.

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'Hacktivists' make noise on US govt websites

A breed of cyber pranksters known as "hacktivists" appears to be on a campaign to embarrass the US government, but such types of attack are unlikely to breach the computer firewalls that protect important official secrets, independent analysts say.

A loosely organised group of hackers called Lulz Security, little known outside of cybersecurity circles, has claimed attacks against the public websites of the CIA and US Senate over the past week. Hackers mounted a second, similar assault against the Senate website on Wednesday, possibly the work of copycats.

US officials say government computer systems and websites, including those operated by the Pentagon, are subjected to thousands of attempted hackings each month but that safeguards usually keep would-be intruders away from sensitive data.

The Lulz style of attack, known as a denial of service meant to disable the target's website, is often undertaken by activists as young as teenagers and pose little danger aside from embarrassment and website clean-up costs that can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"It's hacktivism -- activism through hacking. Campaigns of this kind have been done in the past for two reasons: outrage and self-promotion. This one is some combination of those," said Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a think tank devoted to cyber issues.

"There's a lot of noise but no real downside, except that if people don't think the CIA can protect its own website, it colors their thinking about what it can do in other arenas -- maybe unfairly, but it doesn't really matter."

Denial of service attacks are the most basic form of cyber intervention, in which hackers jam a website by flooding it with traffic. The attacks often involve software that can be downloaded for free from the Internet.

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Zawahri appointed al Qaeda leader: report

EDITOR'S NOTE: REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY CONTENT THE VIDEO FROM WHICH THIS STILL IMAGE WAS TAKEN. Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri speaks from an unknown location, in this still image taken from video uploaded on a social media website June 8, 2011. REUTERS/Social Media Website via Reuters TV

Osama bin Laden's long-time lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, is now the leader of al Qaeda.

The Egyptian-born Zawahri vowed earlier this month to press ahead with al Qaeda's campaign against the United States and its allies, in what appeared to be his first public response to bin Laden's death in a US commando raid in Pakistan in May.



Zawahri, whose whereabouts are unknown, had been seen as bin Laden's most likely successor.

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Indonesia beefs up security as Islamist cleric faces verdict

  Indonesian militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir faces a court verdict Thursday that could see him jailed for life for funding a group that aimed to kill the country's president.

Jailing Bashir would be an important step in the Indonesian government's efforts to weaken terror groups, but may not reduce the threat of attacks in the most populous Muslim country as others seek to push an Islamist agenda.

Bashir does not command widespread support in Indonesia, but a guilty verdict could inflame hardcore Islamists, some of whom have vowed reprisals after the U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden.

Underlining that risk, an anonymous text message circulating through the capital this week warned of 36 bombs exploding in across the country the moment the judge in the south Jakarta court announces a verdict for Bashir.

"Give me strength to fight against the infidels, Islam's enemies," said Bashir in a prayer at the court to hundreds of his followers, many of whom traveled from other cities for the conclusion of a long trial.

Police have stepped up security, with 2,900 officers at the court alone, where phone lines were scrambled and balaclava-wearing snipers took positions on surrounding buildings.

The frail 72-year old cleric is being tried on charges of supporting a paramilitary group that aimed to destabilize Southeast Asia's largest economy, and turn the officially pluralist and mostly moderate Muslim country into a state with Islamic law.

Indonesia has seen success in recent years in tackling militant groups, and a period of political stability and strong economic growth has turned it into an emerging market favorite among investors, though security risks remain.

Militants linked by police to Bashir's group Jema'ah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) have been involved in recent shootouts with police, and a suicide bombing at a police mosque in Java, leading analysts to conclude they are changing tactics from focusing on Western targets to attacking local institutions.

Police say Bashir was also the spiritual leader of regional group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 people.

This is the third attempt for Indonesian law enforcers to try the white-bearded cleric on terror charges. Previous trials only kept him briefly behind bars for other crimes such as immigration offences.

Prosecutors want life in jail for Bashir, though the maximum penalty for the charges is death.

The cleric denied his involvement in the training camp based in Aceh province, which is governed by Islamic law.

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Libyan rebels take new villages in Western Mountains

Rebel fighters are seen before a heavy fight against pro-Gadhafi forces at the frontline of Dafneya, some 40 km west Misrata, Libya, Sunday, June 12, 2011.



Libyan rebels have pushed deeper into government-held territory from their base in the Western Mountains, taking two villages from which forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi had been shelling rebel-held towns.

But the rebels are still a considerable way from Gaddafi's main stronghold in Tripoli, while their fellow fighters on the other two fronts -- in Misrata and in eastern Libya -- have made only halting progress against better-armed government troops.

The rebel advance some 150 km (90 miles) southwest of Tripoli on Wednesday, came as the White House insisted that President Barack Obama had the legal authority to press on with US military involvement in Libya.

Strains have begun to show in the Western alliance trying to topple Gaddafi. The US defense secretary rounded on European allies last week for failing to back the mission the alliance took over in late March.

The White House urged skeptical lawmakers not to send "mixed messages" about their commitment to the NATO-led air war that has helped the rebels push on from their bastion in the east.

"The revolutionaries (rebels) now control Zawiyat al-Babour and al-Awiniyah after pro-Gaddafi forces retreated this morning from the two villages," Abdulrahman, a rebel spokesman in the nearby town of Zintan.

In Gharyan, a Gaddafi-held town that forms the gateway from Tripoli to the mountains, there was an undercurrent of tension as the frontline moves closer to the capital.

Libyan government minders took a group of reporters to the town, which lies about 120 km southwest of Tripoli and about 20 km east of Kikla, which rebels seized from loyalists on Tuesday.

Despite an outward appearance of normality, walls around town on Wednesday had recently painted over graffiti. The windows of one government building were smashed, the sign for another was riddled with holes.

While many traders and people on the streets were reluctant to talk to reporters, one shop owner said the calm in the area during the day was replaced by fighting every night.

"Two thirds of the people here are for the rebels," he told Reuters, giving his name as Mohammed.

Those willing to talk in front of the minders were strongly pro-Gaddafi.

"Sarkozy is stupid, he is fighting this war for petrol," a man called Yunis said in French, referring to the French president, vilified by Gaddafi supporters as the driving force behind NATO bombing. "This is colonialism all over again."

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Pakistan arrests CIA's bin Laden informants: report

 

 

 

 Pakistan's top military spy agency has arrested five CIA informants who fed information to the US spy agency before the raid last month which killed Osama bin Laden.

One of the detainees was reported to be a Pakistani Army major whom officials said copied license plates of cars visiting the al Qaeda leader's compound 30 miles northwest of Islamabad. 

The fate of the CIA informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear.

Outgoing CIA Director Leon Panetta raised the issue of the informants' detention during a trip to Islamabad last week where he met with Pakistani military and intelligence officers.

Some in Washington see the arrest as another sign of the deep disconnect between US and Pakistani priorities in the fight against extremists.

The United States kept Islamabad in the dark about the May 2 raid by Navy SEALs until after it was completed, humiliating Pakistan's armed forces and putting US military and intelligence ties under serious strain.

Last week, at a closed Senate Intelligence Committee briefing, Deputy CIA Director Michael Morell rated Pakistan's cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism operations a "three" on a scale of 1 to 10, the Times reported, citing officials familiar with the exchange.

Other officials cautioned that his comments did not represent the administration's overall assessment, the newspaper said. "We have a strong relationship with our Pakistani counterparts and work through issues when they arise," CIA spokesman Marie Harf told the newspaper.

"Director Panetta had productive meetings last week in Islamabad. It's a crucial partnership, and we will continue to work together in the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups who threaten our country and theirs."

Asked about the Times report, a CIA spokeswoman neither confirmed nor denied it and said she had no further comment.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, was quoted as saying that the CIA. and the Pakistani spy agency "are working out mutually agreeable terms for their cooperation in fighting the menace of terrorism. It is not appropriate for us to get into the details at this stage." 

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Hackers break into US Senate computers

Warning: CIA director said that a cyber attack could be the 'next Pearl Harbor'

The US Senate's website was hacked over the weekend, leading to a review of all of its websites, in the latest embarrassing breach of security to hit a major US-based institution. The loosely organized hacker group Lulz Security broke into a public portion of the Senate website but did not reach behind a firewall into a more sensitive portion of the network, Martina Bradford, the deputy Senate sergeant at arms, said on Monday. Despite the breach, the Sergeant at Arms Office, which provides security for the Senate, said that the breach had not compromised any individual senator's information. Lulz announced the hack on Monday. "We were responding to their allegations. Basically what we're saying that the server they got into is for public access and is in the public side," said Bradford. Lulz Security, who have hacked into Sony's website and the U.S. Public Broadcasting System, posted online a list of files that appear not to be sensitive but indicate the hackers had been into the Senate's computer network. "We don't like the US government very much," Lulz Security said at the top of their release. "This is a small, just-for-kicks release of some internal data from Senate.gov - is this an act of war, gentlemen? Problem?" The comment refers to reports that the US military had decided that it could respond to cyber attacks from foreign countries with traditional military force. Senate staffers were alerted about the breach late Monday. "Although this intrusion is inconvenient, it does not compromise the security of the Senate's network, its members or staff," Bradford said in a statement. "Specifically, there is no individual user account information on the server supporting senate.gov that could have been compromised." "The hackers may have done the equivalent of burglarizing the Senate and bragging because they managed to steal a bunch of souvenirs from the gift shop," said Stewart Baker, a former cyber official at the Department of Homeland Security. He is now with the law firm Steptoe and Johnson.

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Suicide bombing kills 34 in Pakistan

At least 34 people were killed in a suspected suicide bombing in the Pakistani city of Peshawar late Saturday, the latest attack since Osama bin Laden's killing last month.


The bombing took place near a building that houses several newspaper offices as well as apartments. The attack occurred when a large number of people were dining in the nearby restaurants.


No one claimed responsibility for the attack but Taliban militants have vowed to avenge the killing of al Qaeda chief bin Laden by US SEALS in a secret raid in the northwestern town of Abbottabad on May 2.


A small blast preceded a big one, which senior police official Banaras Khan said police suspected was carried out by a suicide bomber.


"After the second blast, a fire broke out. Several charred bodies were lying on the ground while some wounded people were crawling away from the site," witness Naeem Ahmed told.


Television footage showed twisted window frames, shards of broken glasses and fallen electricity cables strewn on roads as rescue workers were loading wounded men on stretchers into ambulances.


Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister of the northwestern Khyber Pukhtunkhuwa (KP) province, told reporters that doctors had said the death toll was 34, "but it may rise as many wounded people are in critical condition."


Peshawar is the capital of KP, which borders Afghanistan.

Hospital officials said 100 people were wounded, 21 of them seriously. .


 one of the wounded man cried 'please take me to hospital, I am alive.


Since bin Laden was killed, militants have attacked a heavily guarded naval base in Karachi; killed nearly 100 people in twin suicide bombings at the headquarters of a paramilitary force in the northwest; attacked US consulate convoy in Peshawar and killed a Saudi diplomat in Karachi.

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US hails death of top al-Qaeda militant

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the death of top African al-Qaeda militant Fazul Abdullah Mohammed is a "significant blow" to the group.


He and another militant were killed earlier this week in a shootout with police at a checkpoint in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, officials said.


Mohammed was the most wanted man in Africa, with a $5m bounty on his head.

After landing in Tanzania's capital, Dar es Salaam, on the second leg of a tour of Africa, Mrs Clinton told reporters: "[His] death is a significant blow to al-Qaeda, its extremist allies, and its operations in East Africa."
"It is a just end for a terrorist who brought so much death and pain to so many innocents in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and elsewhere - Tanzanians, Kenyans, Somalis, and our own embassy personnel."
He was suspected of having played a key role in the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa, which killed 224 people.


He was also accused of attacking Israeli targets on the Kenyan coast in 2002, and was recently believed to have been working with the Islamist militant group, al-Shabab, which controls much of southern Somalia.
Born in the Comoros islands in the early 1970s, Mr Mohammed is believed to have joined al-Qaeda in Afghanistan during the 1990s.

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Obama calls on private sector to create jobs

US president Barack Obama on Saturday called for the private sector to create more jobs, but underlined the government’s role in promoting professional education.
‘Now, government is not — and should not be — the main engine of job-creation in this country. That’s the role of the private sector,’ the president said in his weekly radio and internet address.
‘But one thing government can do is partner with the private sector to make sure that every worker has the necessary skills for the jobs they’re applying for,’ Obama added.
His comments came after labour department figures showed only 54,000 new jobs had been created in May, just a quarter of the February-April pace; the unemployment rate had edged up to 9.1 per cent.
The White House and economists cautioned that the poor data was likely a monthly blip, but it has fuelled allegations that Obama’s economic policies are failing, 18 months ahead of the presidential election.
The president noted that the US economy had not got into what he called a ‘mess’ overnight, and would not resolve its problems quickly.
‘It’s going to take time,’ he warned.
Obama pointed to the importance of investing in wind power, solar power, and biofuels to make America less dependent on foreign oil and to clean up the environment.
‘These are steps we know will make a difference in people’s lives — not just twenty years from now, or ten years from now, but now, and in the months to come,’ the president said.

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Hillary warns Africa of 'new colonialism'

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday warned Africa of a creeping "new colonialism" from foreign investors and governments interested only in extracting the continent's natural resources to enrich themselves and not the African people.
Hillary said that African leaders must ensure that foreign projects are sustainable and benefit all their citizens, not only elites. A day earlier, she cautioned that China's massive investments and business interests in Africa need to be closely watched so that the African people are not taken advantage of.
"It is easy, and we saw that during colonial times, it is easy to come in, take out natural resources, pay off leaders and leave," Clinton said. "And when you leave, you don't leave much behind for the people who are there. We don't want to see a new colonialism in Africa."
Clinton said the United States didn't want foreign governments and investors to fail in Africa, but they should also give back to the local communities.
"We want them to do well, but also we want them to do good," she said.
"We don't want them to undermine good governance, we don't want them to basically deal with just the top elites, and frankly too often pay for their concessions or their opportunities to invest."
Clinton said that American development aid and infrastructure projects come with good governance conditions and that the Obama administration is interested in Africa and the African people. Their success, she said, is in the long-term interest of both the African people and the US.
She spoke in a pan-African television interview in the Zambian capital. Clinton is the first secretary of state to visit Zambia since Henry Kissinger came in 1976.

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Pakistan tells CIA chief no US boots on the ground

CIA Director Leon Panetta told Pakistan's army and intelligence chiefs that he was concerned about a reduction of US troops allowed in the country.

ISLAMABAD: CIA Director Leon Panetta told Pakistan’s army and intelligence chiefs that he was concerned about a reduction of US troops allowed in the country, but was bluntly told no American boots would be allowed on the ground, Pakistani military officials.
Panetta, nominated to take over as defence secretary next month, arrived in Pakistan on Friday in an unannounced visit, his first trip since a secret US raid that killed Osama bin Laden and severely damaged ties between the allies.
The army said on Thursday it had drastically cut down on the number of US troops allowed in the country and set clear limits on intelligence sharing with the United States.
“He (Panetta) expressed concerns over the reduction of trainers and operatives. We told him very clearly ‘no boots on our soil is acceptable’,” said the Pakistani military official.
Panetta held talks with army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, head of military intelligence.
The military released a statement saying: “Both sides discussed the framework for future intelligence sharing.”
A US embassy spokesman said he had no information on the talks.
“We told him that we are clear. We don’t want their people. Intelligence sharing is fine and we are ready for that,” said another military official.
Washington was angered by the fact that Bin Laden had apparently been living for years in a Pakistani town about a two-hour drive from the intelligence headquarters.
On Friday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, also a US ally, arrived in Islamabad and asked Pakistan to help end the Taliban insurgency.
Pakistan, which supported the Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until its ouster in 2001 by US-backed forces, will be crucial to any attempts to stabilize its western neighbor.
But Pakistan has often been accused of playing a “double game,” promising the United States it will go after militants, while supporting some groups such as the Haqqani network, an allegation it denies.
US commanders say the military effort in Afghanistan is being undermined partly by Pakistan-based militants.
The Haqqanis use safe havens in North Waziristan region to stage cross-border attacks against American troops in Afghanistan, and US officials have accused Pakistani intelligence of ties to the group. Pakistan denies the allegations.

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Gaddafi offered exit deal

Turkey has offered Muammar Gaddafi guarantees to leave Libya but has yet to receive a reply, as rebels say loyalist forces killed 20 people in a fierce assault on Misrata.
Fresh Nato-led strikes sent up plumes of smoke Friday in Tripoli, where the strongman has his residence and headquarters.
But in Brussels, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned the Western alliance's air war on forces loyal to Gaddafi could be in peril because of military shortcomings.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government had offered exit "guarantees" to the embattled Libyan leader, whom rebels have been trying to oust since February following a bloody crackdown on pro-reform protests.
Gaddafi "has no other option than to leave Libya - with a guarantee to be given to him," Erdogan said on NTV television.
"We have given him this guarantee. We have told him we will help him to be sent wherever he wants to go," he added, without elaborating.
"Depending on the reply we will get from him, we will take up the issue with our (Nato) allies, but unfortunately we have received no reply so far."
His comments came after a day of deadly fighting near the port city of Misrata, the rebels' most significant enclave in western Libya, some 200 kilometres from Tripoli.
Beaten back loyalists
Gaddafi's forces had bombarded the Dafnia area on Misrata's outskirts with Grad rockets, heavy artillery and tank shells, a rebel said.
"Twenty people, both civilians and rebels, were killed and more than 80 wounded," in the sector, 35km from Misrata city centre, he added.
But they had beaten back an attack by loyalist troops, leaving "dead and wounded among the Gaddafi forces," he said.
In the Libyan capital Tripoli, two loud blasts were heard at about 15:00 (13:00 GMT), coming from the eastern suburbs of Tajura and Ain Zara, residents told AFP.
Three powerful explosions shook the city centre at around midnight. Other more distant blasts followed.
Tripoli has over the past two days been subjected to the most intense Nato air raids since the international military campaign was launched on March 19 under a UN mandate to protect Libyan civilians.
In Paris, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's daughter Aisha filed a second war crimes complaint against Nato and France over air strikes that killed family members, including three infants, her lawyer said.
In Moscow, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's special envoy Mikhail Margelov said he would be visiting Tripoli to try to find a solution to the conflict, having met the opposition in their Benghazi stronghold.
Half of Nato out
Thursday saw a surge of support for the rebels battling to oust Gaddafi at a meeting in Abu Dhabi of the International Contact Group on Libya.
Key powers agreed to unlock a billion dollars for their coffers, and the United States joined Australia and Spain in recognising the rebels National Transitional Council (NTC) as Libya's legitimate representative.
Gates, the Pentagon chief, expressed concern on Friday with half of the countries in the 28-member Nato alliance not participating in the Libya campaign, many simply did not have the wherewithal.
"Frankly, many of those allies sitting on the sidelines do so not because they do not want to participate, but simply because they cannot," Gates said.
"The military capabilities simply aren't there."
Norway, which has contributed six F-16 fighters, said however that it would first reduce its participation before pulling out altogether on August 1.
And Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that while his country supported a three-month extension of the Nato air campaign, its six F-16s would not fly bombing missions.
US Senator Carl Levin, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said later that Gaddafi's forces had been "severely degraded" and the Nato operation was "going well", following a briefing from Pentagon officials.
Gaddafi sent a letter to the US Congress praising its criticism of President barack obama over libya.
"What does it stand for? Does it mean that media has reported repeatedly? Does this constitute hyste

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Start of Afghan transition on track for July: NATO

Plans are on track for Afghan forces to take charge of security in seven areas of Afghanistan from late July with a second phase of the handover starting in December, NATO commanders said on Thursday. Major-General Tim Evans, a senior British officer with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), on a video link from Afghanistan, said the first set of areas would start transferring from ISAF to Afghan control on July 20. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in March that seven areas would be included in the initial phase of transition, the first step in a long process due to end with the withdrawal of all foreign combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014. Karzai has said the transition would begin in the Afghan month of Saratan, which runs from June 22 to July 22 on the Western calendar, but has not given an exact date. Lieutenant-General David Rodriguez, the second most senior US commander in Afghanistan, speaking on the same video conference with reporters, said the Afghan government was "walking through all the plans and preparations now" for the first phase of transition. Afghan authorities had begun "face-to-face meetings down at the local level" in preparation for the handover and were very satisfied with ISAF's plans to support the transition, he said. "They are already looking forward to the next group (of areas for transition) that will be announced in the fall and initiate the process in December," said Rodriguez, commander of day-to-day operations for the 150,000-strong NATO-led force. TROOP DRAWDOWN The move is part of NATO's strategy to hand over responsibility to an expanding Afghan force gradually, allowing reductions in foreign forces currently battling Taliban insurgents. President Barack Obama is expected to announce soon he will bring home a sizable number of the 100,000 US troops in Afghanistan starting in July. The relatively peaceful provinces of Bamiyan and Panjshir, the western city of Herat, areas around the capital Kabul and part of eastern Laghman province are among the first areas to be handed over. Also on the transition list are Mazar-i-Sharif in the north and Lashkar Gah, capital of volatile southern Helmand province. Evans said the transition did not mean that all British troops in Lashkar Gah would suddenly leave in July. "We've got to make sure we still support the Afghan forces," he said. But if conditions allowed, troops from areas that had been handed over would be moved to help other areas progress toward transition, he said. Evans also said that the level of violence during this year's "fighting season" was likely to be "as high if not higher than last year" because ISAF forces were pursuing insurgents. NATO had anticipated that the insurgents might concentrate on areas singled out for transition to Afghan control, he said. Osama bin Laden's killing in a US raid in Pakistan last month has fueled calls in the United States for a faster drawdown of troops. Rodriguez said the al Qaeda leader's death had so far had no discernible effect on the ground, although he hoped bin Laden's influence on the Taliban would now decline.

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Clinton in talks about possible move to World Bank

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is seeking to become president of the World Bank, according to a report.

Clinton has been in discussions with the White House about leaving her job next year in order to become head of the World Bank.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a news conference after the third contact group meeting on Libya, at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi June 9, 2011. Clinton said on Thursday talks were under way with people close to Muammar Gaddafi and there was "the potential" for a transition of power in Libya.

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The former first lady is already one of the most influential leaders in President Barack Obama's cabinet. She also competed with him for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2007 and 2008.

She has publicly said that she did not plan to stay on at the State Department for more than four years - a post she has held since early 2009.

Associates now say she has her eye on having the World Bank job, should the Bank's current president, Robert Zoellick, leave at the end of his term in the middle of 2012.

"Hillary Clinton wants the job," said one source who knows the secretary well.

A second source concurred with the first. And a third said Obama has expressed his support of the change in role.

It is not known if Obama will formally agree to nominate Clinton for the post, which would require approval by the 187 member countries of the World Bank. The White House declined to comment.

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