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KABUL — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used a brief visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday to lob insults at the United States and argue that international forces won’t stop terrorism and will only lead to more civilian deaths.

Ahmadinejad said the United States was playing a “double game” in Afghanistan, fighting militants it once supported.

His comments were a retort to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates who earlier in the week accused Tehran of “playing a double game” by nurturing relations with the Afghan government while supporting insurgents to undermine U.S. and NATO troops. Tehran denies the allegation.

Ahmadinejad threw back the phrase Wednesday.

“I believe that they themselves,” who are now fighting militants in Afghanistan, “are playing a double game,” said Ahmadinejad, who has made several visits to the country. “They themselves created terrorists and now they’re saying that they are fighting terrorists.”

During the 10 years that the Soviet Union fought in Afghanistan, the U.S. supplied rebels with everything from mules to advanced weaponry, including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that helped neutralize Soviet air power. After the U.S. money evaporated, the world watched Afghanistan plunge into chaos and eventually harbor the al-Qaida terrorist network responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks…..

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Militants have attacked the office of a Western aid agency in north-western Pakistan, killing six people, police and the agency have said.

The victims, including two women, were all Pakistani nationals working for World Vision in Mansehra district.

The Christian group said it would suspend all operations in the country.

No group has admitted carrying out the attack but Islamist militants and specifically the Taliban will be suspected, a BBC correspondent says.

Earlier in the week, following a bombing in Lahore, the Taliban said they would carry out more attacks across the country as long as US air strikes and Pakistani army operations against them continued in the tribal areas, the BBC’s Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says.

World Vision said in a statement that it had not received any threatening letters ahead of the attack.

Hundreds of people have been killed in attacks by unmanned drone aircraft in Pakistan’s tribal areas since mid-2008.

Two suspected US missile strikes near Miranshah in North Waziristan on Wednesday killed at least 12 people, some of them thought to be foreigners, local officials said…….

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The State Department is criticizing the Burmese electoral laws in strong terms, but it says the Obama administration is not ready to abandon its efforts at dialogue with the country’s military leadership.

The comments follow the announcement of rules for elections promised for this year that would, among other things, bar the country’s more than 2,000 political prisoners from participating, apparently including democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In the most extensive U.S. comments thus far on the issue, State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said the Obama administration is deeply disappointed over the political party law and troubled that it appears to bar Aung San Suu Kyi from the process, perhaps even prohibiting her from membership in the party she leads — the National League for Democracy, or NLD.

“This is a step in the wrong direction.  The political party law makes a mockery of the democratic process and ensures that the upcoming elections will be devoid of credibility,” he said……

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STOCKHOLM (AP) — The point of a caricature depicting the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog was to show that artistic freedom allows mockery of all religions, including the most sacred symbols of Islam, the Swedish artist who created the depiction said Wednesday.

The artist, Lars Vilks — who prosecutors said was the target of a murder plot involving an American woman who dubbed herself JihadJane — said in an interview that he had no regrets about the drawing, which deeply offended many Muslims.

“I’m actually not interested in offending the prophet,” Mr. Vilks said. “The point is actually to show that you can. There is nothing so holy you can’t offend it.”

Mr. Vilks made his sketch showing Muhammad’s head on a dog’s body more than a year after 12 Danish newspaper cartoons of the prophet set off furious protests in Muslim countries in 2006. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable ones, out of concern about idolatry.

Mr. Vilks submitted his drawing to an exhibit at a Swedish cultural heritage center, which turned it down, citing security concerns. The matter went largely unnoticed until a Swedish newspaper printed the drawing with an editorial defending freedom of expression.

The publication led to protests from Muslim countries, and briefly revived a heated debate about religious sensitivities and the limits of free speech. It also led to many death threats against Mr. Vilks, who was temporarily moved to a secret location after Islamic militants put a $100,000 bounty on his head in September 2007……

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VATICAN CITY — Church abuse scandals in Germany have reached the older brother of Pope Benedict XVI and are creeping ever closer to the pontiff himself.

While there has been no suggestion of wrongdoing by Benedict, the launch of an inquiry by German Catholic officials after his brother admitted he slapped children years ago is stirring Vatican fears of a major crisis for the papacy.

Benedict, 82, was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982 when he was brought to the Vatican to head the body responsible for investigating abuse cases. During that time, he came under criticism for decreeing that even the most serious abuse cases must first be investigated internally.

Since then, Benedict has taken a strong stand against abuse by clerics in the Roman Catholic Church.

Just weeks before he became pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger caused a stir when he denounced “filth” in the church and among priests — a condemnation taken as a reference to clerical sex abuse.

German church officials said Wednesday they will examine what — if anything — Benedict knew about abuse during his time as Munich archbishop.

“We do not know if the pope knew about the abuse cases at the time,” church spokesman Karl Juesten told The Associated Press.

He said the church “assumes” Benedict knew nothing of such cases, but that current Munich Archbishop Reinhard Marx will be “certainly investigating these questions…..

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NEW DELHI: The euphoria over women’s reservation bill may be shortlived with sharp divisions emerging in BJP over the legislation. The resentment
building in BJP’s Lok Sabha group is certain to embolden vocal critics on the ‘social justice’ side and silent opponents in other parties to place more roadblocks.

That there are several hurdles to be cleared for the passage of the bill in the Lok Sabha was evident when a section of BJP MPs on Wednesday attacked the legislation and threatened to go to the extent of defying the whip in the House. These MPs are also of the view that the party walked into the Congress trap as one of the drivers for presenting the bill now was to divide the Opposition ranks. “We should also not have supported the bundling out of MPs by marshals in the Rajya Sabha,” a senior party leader said.

Although MPs belonging to parties supporting the Bill have been feigning their backing, there is unease over the legislation as it would deny 181 MPs the chance to get re-elected next time. Besides, at least 10% MPs are in any case denied tickets by their respective parties.

It was Ms Sonia Gandhi’s determination that forced the government leadership to fall in line. Barring a few ministers like Mukul Wasnik, there were not many vocal supporters for the bill even in Congress. Of course, they have been couching their view in the need to avoid confrontation with supporting parties. As a matter of fact, Mr Manmohan Singh’s admirers even charged the Congress leadership of using the Bill “to disempower the prime minister and UPA allies…..

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A city court on Wednesday granted bail to former Outer Delhi MP Sajjan Kumar and nine others accused in two 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases after they furnished a personal bond and surety of Rs 50,000 each.

This was Kumar’s first appearance in court after evading earlier summons to appear on February 17 and 23.

Kumar, against whom non-bailable warrants were issued, had already been granted anticipatory bail by the Delhi High Court on February 26 — the matter would be heard next on March 20.

Dressed in a white safari suit, Kumar entered the court premises amid heavy security, as protests continued outside. In court, Kumar did not show much emotion and calmly watched the proceedings.

Kumar’s appearance came after a month of hide-and-seek, during which the Central Bureau of Investigation told the court that he was absconding. On February 1, a city court had issued summons against Kumar and other accused, asking them to appear in court on February 17…….

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It would be a tough summer season ahead for the people of Punjab, if the present power scenario in the state is any indication. The imposition of 3 to 4 hour power cuts in the state today has given a clear indication that power situation in the state would worsen in coming days.

Though the PSEB authorities had been maintaining that it would ensure an uninterrupted power supply, the latest demand and supply figures of power shows that people would have to sweat out in the summer season.

All districts of the state today experienced two- three hour power cuts. The duration of power cuts in some districts was 3.5 hours, whereas nearly six districts, including Patiala, Ludhiana and Jalandhar, witnessed 4.5-hour cut.

As per data available, against the demand of 1,095 lakh units, the availability is 990 lakh units. Out of the available 990 lakh units, the PSEB is giving 90 lakh units towards the banking, which means a shortfall of almost 200 lakh units.

PSEB officials said because of the shortfall of 200 lakh units, power cuts varying from 3.5-4 hours were imposed in the state today. They further informed that two thermal units – one at Bathinda and other at Ropar, are currently not operational, which had led to a shortfall of 100 lakh units. “One unit of the Bathinda thermal plant is closed for maintenance and will take another two-three days to start functioning. One unit of the Ropar thermal plant has developed a technical snag and take time to become operational,” said a PSEB spokesman…..

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