Karzai, rivals debate as Afghan elections near

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, heavily criticized last month for skipping a candidates’ debate, met two of his political rivals in a nationally televised debate Sunday night, just four days ahead of the war-torn country’s presidential elections.

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Pakistan Military Not Capitalizing on Taliban Disarray

A week after a CIA drone strike is believed to have killed Baitullah Mehsud, you’d think the Pakistan military would be rushing to capitalize on the apparent disarray in the leadership of the Pakistani Taliban as rivals fight to succeed him. But rather than mount an offensive in the strongholds of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in South Waziristan — the sort of campaign promised by President Asif Ali Zardari back in May — Pakistan’s generals seem content to let the CIA’s drones do most of the fighting. Indeed, some officials in Islamabad say Mehsud’s death may open the way for a truce with the TTP, if his successor agrees to stop fighting the Pakistani state and instead turns their weapons on Western forces in Afghanistan

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Terror drill off New York tests agencies against seaborne attack

Federal, state and municipal agencies staged an elaborate drill in the waters off New York City on Tuesday to prepare for the possibility of a nuclear or dirty-bomb attack from the water. “We’re a big city, and there are vulnerabilities,” said Ray Kelly, commissioner of the New York Police Department

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