THE Taliban’s most prominent military commander, a one-legged fighter who orchestrated an ethnic massacre and a rash of beheadings, was killed in a US-led military operation in southern Afghanistan, officials said yesterday.

US midterm election results that heralded a massive power shift in the American political landscape were greeted with jubilation around the world.

News of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s death trickled in to the US Marines camp outside the battle-scarred city of Fallujah today, bringing the troops a vague sense of satisfaction.

A surge in oil prices last week to almost $70 a barrel on concerns about the restart of Iran’s nuclear programme only hints at what may lie ahead.

OSAMA BIN LADEN warned al-Qaida is preparing new attacks inside the United States, but said the group was open to a conditional truce with the US, according to an audio tape attributed to him yesterday.