WASHINGTON, D.C.: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday it was too soon to set a timeline for shifting security duties from NATO-led troops to Afghan forces, as proposed by Britain.
AFP
New York CITY: A UN commission issued a resolution Thursday expressing “grave concern” over widespread rights abuses in Myanmar and detention of political prisoners including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.               
AFP

SYDNEY: Australia said it was “deeply disappointed” after a fleet of Japanese whaling ships set out to kill hundreds of the giant ocean mammals on their annual hunt.           
AFP

BOGOTA: Colombia said Thursday it would lodge another complaint with the UN Security Council against Venezuela, this time for blowing up two small footbridges crossing the border between the countries.     AFP

CANBERRA: Former director general of the Australian government’s international aid agency AusAID, Bruce Davis, has been appointed as Australia’s next ambassador to Ireland.      
XINHUA

YANGON: Laos Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has begun his official visit to Nay Pyi Taw, new capital of Myanmar, and will meet the government leadership, according to Friday’s official media report.
XINHUA

BEIJING: Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie will visit North Korea soon, state-run media said Friday, amid efforts to draw Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks.               
AFP

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Associated Press said Thursday that 90 news department staffers were laid off this week in a move that helped the US news agency reach its cost-cutting target.                        AFP

WASHINGTON, D.C.:A former White House security adviser alleged Thursday that the Muslim army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 at a Texas military base may not have been investigated because of “political correctness.”               
AFP

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A bomb ripped through a Pakistan police vehicle, killing two policemen and wounding five people on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar early Friday, officials said.     AFP

CANBERRA: Former director general of the Australian government’s international aid agency AusAID, Bruce Davis, has been appointed as Australia’s next ambassador to Ireland.
XINHUA