A suicide bomber blew himself up today at the gate of the police headquarters in Lashkar Gah in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 11 security officers in a city where Afghans have recently taken control of security.

The US military’s top officer has told Congress that President Barack Obama’s decision to withdraw up to 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by next summer is riskier than he originally was prepared to endorse.

Hillary Clinton said today that relations between the United States and Pakistan have reached a turning point after the killing of Osama bin Laden, and Islamabad must make “decisive steps” in the days ahead to fight terrorism.

The US Afghanistan commander general David Petraeus is to be made new head of the CIA, security sources have said.

BRITAIN and the United States planned to step up military pressure on Muammar Gaddafi, as the Libyan leader’s army pressed its bloody siege of the rebel-held city of Misrata.

US senator John McCain called for increased military support for Libya’s rebels, including weapons, training and stepped-up airstrikes, in a full-throated endorsement of the opposition in its fight to oust Muammar Gaddafi.

THE conflict in Libya is heading for a “stalemate” as Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s troops press on with their siege of the rebel-held Misrata, despite recent air strikes on Libyan forces, according to the top US military officer.

The conflict in Libya is heading towards a “stalemate” despite more than a month of allied air strikes against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, the most senior American military officer admitted today.

At least 25 people have died after a US missile strike along the Afghan border with Pakistan, intelligence sources have revealed.

BARACK Obama said yesterday the US favours the ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi but the international military effort has a more limited goal of establishing a no-fly zone over Libya and protecting civilians against massacre by forces loyal to the longtime ruler.

Western forces have carried out another night of attacks in Libya, including one raid which destroyed a building inside the compound where Colonel Gaddafi lives, but authorities say the dictator is not a target.

WESTERN forces pounded Libya’s air defences and patrolled its skies yesterday, but their intervention hit a serious diplomatic setback as the head of the Arab League condemned the “bombardment of civilians”.

LIBYAN rebels have claimed as many as 8,000 people opposed to Col Muammar Gaddafi’s rule may have died since the uprising began, as the US claimed last night coalition forces had succeeded in establishing a no-fly zone after two nights of airstrikes.

Libya announced another ceasefire tonight as the country braced itself for a second night’s bombardment by allied forces.

The US is tempering its tough talk on Libya with a dose of reality, explaining that even a no-fly zone over the country would require a military attack on Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

Egyptian protesters were jubilant today over their success in ousting President Hosni Mubarak, but many vowed to stay camped in a central Cairo square until they hear “clear assurances” that the military will meet their demands for democracy.

The US Senate today ratified an arms control treaty with Russia that reins in nuclear weapons, giving President Barack Obama a major foreign policy win in the closing hours of the post-election Congress.

Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, posing a threat to its neighbours, and the United States is “very ready” to counter Iran should it make a move, the top US military officer said today.

President Barack Obama's expansion of the war in Afghanistan has weakened al-Qaida and the Taliban, a US strategy review says.

North Korea warned today that US-South Korean co-operation could bring nuclear war to the region.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said today his office was starting a preliminary examination of possible war crimes by North Korea.

IN secret and with remarkable speed, North Korea has built a new, highly sophisticated facility to enrich uranium, according to an American nuclear scientist, raising fears that the North is ramping up its atomic programme despite international pressure.

A SENATE bill to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was headed for defeat last night, a major setback for gay groups which saw the vote as their last chance this year to overturn the 17-year-old ban.

President Barack Obama’s choice to lead the US Marine Corps told the Senate today Congress should not repeal the law barring gays from serving openly in the military, dealing a blow to gay rights advocates just hours before a crucial vote.

THE US yesterday moved into the final phase of its military involvement in Iraq, with administration officials saying the war was ending even as the new commander of the remaining 50,000 troops warned of the ongoing threat from “hostile elements”.

THE chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff has said the US military has a plan to attack Iran, but thinks a strike is probably a bad idea.

THE whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, the Pentagon has said, warning its unprecedented leak of secret US military files could cost lives and damage trust of allies.

A criminal investigation into the leak of tens of thousands of secret Afghanistan war logs could go beyond the military, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said, and he did not rule out that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could be a target.

WIKILEAKS’ editor-in-chief claims his organisation doesn’t know who sent it some 91,000 secret US military documents, telling journalists that the website was set up to hide the source of its data from those who receive it.

OPERATIVES in Afghanistan and Pakistan who have worked for the US against the Taliban or al-Qaida may be at risk following the disclosure of thousands of once-secret US military documents, former and current officials said.

The general sacked by Barack Obama as Afghanistan's coalition commander ended his 34-year army career in a retirement ceremony at his Washington military headquarters.

ISRAEL’S prime minister and defence chief will be called to testify in an investigation into a deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, the leader of an Israeli commission of inquiry said in an opening statement yesterday.

The Nato-led command stressed that military operations to secure vast areas of Afghanistan would not be delayed by the ouster of its top commander and mounting casualties.

US AFGHAN commander Stanley McChrystal was sacked by Barack Obama last night for publicly criticising the President.

An oil spill that is threatening to eclipse the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control and started washing ashore along America's Gulf Coast early today.

A bicycle bomb killed 13 people in Afghanistan today as they gathered to get free vegetable seeds as part of a British drive to discourage opium poppy growing.

The commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan took his apology for an airstrike that killed civilians directly to the Afghan people, with a video in which he pledged to work to regain their trust.

THE US military’s top uniformed officer yesterday made an impassioned plea for allowing gays to serve openly in uniform, telling a Senate panel it was a matter of integrity and that it is wrong to force people to “lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens”.

TOP administration officials mounted a strong sales pitch on Capitol Hill yesterday for President Barack Obama’s day-old $3.8 trillion (€2.7tn) budget, saying it would help lift the economy and keep the nation strong.

FAILURE in Afghanistan would mean a Taliban takeover of the country and “have severe consequences for the United States and the world”, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday as the Obama administration set out to sell its new war strategy on Capitol Hill.

US President Barack Obama will announce his decision on whether to send more US troops to Afghanistan “within days” after he held a final strategy session with top aides, the White House said yesterday.

The White House tonight dismissed suggestions by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown that President Barack Obama was close to announcing a decision on the deployment of more troops to Afghanistan.

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s top commander in Afghanistan has told him that without more troops the US could lose the war that Obama has described as the nation’s foremost military priority.

US President Barack Obama said there will be no quick decision on whether to send more US troops into the war in Afghanistan.