Barack Obama defended the US role in bringing down Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, rejecting assessments that the international coalition he helped assemble amounted to “leading from behind”.

US diplomatic cables revealed today portray Afghanistan as rife with corruption to the highest levels of government, with tens of millions of dollars flowing out of the country and a cash transfer network that facilitates bribes for corrupt Afghan officials, drug traffickers and insurgents.

Afghanistan’s foreign minister warned the US, Nato and their allies today that they must look beyond his country and work to dismantle international militant networks if they wanted to win the war on terror.

CRITICISM mounted yesterday of the dramatic airborne rescue from Taliban territory of a kidnapped Irish journalist who walked free as four others, including his Afghan colleague, were killed.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that Iran was prepared for any possibility in the stand-off with the West over its controversial nuclear activities – a tough reaction to a US military buildup in the Gulf meant as a warning to Iran.