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Villagers living in a Taliban-controlled area of Helmand in Afghanistan are leaving before a major NATO-led offensive gets under way while two British soldiers are also killed in an explosion in the same province.
The operation to clear insurgents from the southern town of Marja is expected to begin soon. NATO says the town of Marja is home to the biggest community under insurgent control in Southern Afghanistan.
Operation Moshtarak - which means "together" in the Dari language - is expected to be one of the largest counter-insurgency operations since the afghan conflict began in 2001. NATO aircraft dropped more leaflets over Marja at the weekend warning of the planned offensive.
The overall NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley Mcchrystal, said the operation would "send a strong signal that the afghan government is expanding its security control".
Late on Sunday, UK defence secretary bob ainsworth warned of likely casualties within coalition troops during the offensive.
Meanwhile, two British solders have been killed by a bomb in Helmand. They were not involved in the Marja operation.
The British ministry of Defence said the two soldiers were on foot patrol in Sangin when a roadside bomb killed them.
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Iran today officially notified the UN nuclear watchdog of its plans to produce 20 percent enriched uranium.
Tehran's envoy to the international atomic energy told a state owned news channel that Iran’s official letter about commencing the 20 percent enrichment activity in order to provide fuel for the Tehran reactor has been handed over to the IAEA.
Earlier, Iran's atomic Chief Ali Akbar Salehi announced that Tehran would begin enriching uranium to 20 percent from tomorrow. Salehi's announcement came just hours after he was ordered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to start enriching uranium to 20 percent to provide nuclear fuel to the Natanz reactor in Tehran.
Salehi, however, said Tehran would stop the higher enrichment programme if a long-negotiated deal with world powers is concluded. Iran's decision to enrich uranium to a higher level drew immediate condemnation from Britain and the United States.
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President Mahmoud Abbas has said, Palestinians are weighing indirect peace talks with israel based on the roadmap as Hamas leader Khalid Meshaal meets with Russian foreign minister in Moscow
The Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas met with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama as the two leaders discussed issues on the Middle East peace process.
They agreed that resuming the peace talks based on the roadmap is crucial.
Abbas has said he will only return to negotiations if Israel completely stops settlement-building in the occupied west bank. Japanese Prime Minister welcomed Abbas' visit saying the peace talks must be resumed with the help of the united states.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki has welcomed an offer by the u.s. For peace talks with Israel but said they should be limited to border issues and held within a time frame. Speaking in Tokyo, Malki said the or the indirect talks between Palestine and Israel with a U.S. Mediator shuttling between the two sides, accorded with the efforts of President Mahmoud Abbas.
If materialized, the talks would be a restart of dialogues between Palestine and Israel that broke down during a round of fighting in Gaza in December of 2008.
And in Moscow, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as Moscow seeks to play mediating role in new middle east peace efforts. Talks between Meshaal and Lavrov Focussed on ways to revive the Palestinian-Israeli dialogue and reach an inter-Palestinian settlement, the Russian government said. Meshaal's last official visit to Moscow was in 2007. Various Hamas officials have at times indicated a willingness to negotiate a ceasefire with Israel, possibly decades long.
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In the United States , at least five people were killed and 12 injured when a massive explosion rocked a gas power plant under construction in connecticut.
Ambulances from across the region and several helicopters rushed to the scene of the Kleen energy systems LLC plant on the banks of the connecticut river.
Eyewitnesses reported flames shooting up and black smoke billowing after the blast shattered the Sunday-morning calm.
The explosion happened during tests at the site, a 620 megawatt gas-fired power plant which was due to come online in the summer. Some local residents reported windows blown out by the force of the explosion.
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In Occupied Kashmir, the authorities imposed strict restrictions in Sri nagar to prevent the march towards the united nations observers’ office.
The call for the march had been given by the All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
According to Kashmir media service, the march was intended to draw world attention towards the recent killings of teenagers by Indian police in the occupied territory.
The APHC Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Agha Syed Hassan al-Moosavi and Mukhtar Ahmed Waza remained under house arrest and large number of troops were deployed outside their residences.
Shabbir Ahmed Shah, Nayeem Ahmed Khan and Firdous Ahmed Shah have already been lodged in Kathua Jail.
A curfew like situation continued in Srinagar for the eighth consecutive day, resulting in severe difficulties for the people, who are already facing problems due to snowfall and biting cold.All banks, markets, public transport and businesses remained closed.
APHC leaders and activists were arrested in Narbal when they tried to proceed towards the United Nations office. The Mirwaiz Manzil in Rajouri Kadal was ransacked and the inmates were subjected to torture.
The high court bar association of occupied Kashmir in an emailed appeal to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, sought the world body’s intervention in resolving the Kashmir dispute in line with its resolutions and in accordance with the Kashmiris’ aspirations.A local lawyers’ group ‘initiative for peace and justice’ in its report revealed that at least 500 persons including children, arrested for participating in anti-India demonstrations were being kept in sub-human conditions in police stations across the valley. In Islamabad, the APHC-AJK chapter in an extraordinary meeting, presided over by the Convenor, Mehmood Ahmed Saghar, condemned the restrictions imposed by the occupation authorities to prevent the march.
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