KABUL (Reuters) – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was in Afghanistan on Wednesday for talks with President Hamid Karzai and NATO military leaders, the U.N. said. Ban’s unannounced visit comes a day after the U.N. said more than 2,100 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2008, 40 percent more …

MINGORA, Pakistan  – Pakistani Taliban kidnapped 29 paramilitary soldiers and policemen Wednesday, police said, as the militants intensified their campaign against government forces. Security has deteriorated sharply in northwestern areas along the Afghan border as well as the Swat valley, where troops are struggling to stem spreading Taliban influence. In …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s residing representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asqar Soltanieh Wednesday said that the agency’s Director General Mohammed ElBaradei will release his report on Iranian nuclear program within the next one or two weeks. “The Agency’s director general will likely release his report on Iran’s …