LONDON: Afghan troops and Nato war jets pounded insurgents during a "fierce battle" in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing 17 rebels. The fighting erupted after rebels fired several mortars at an Afghan army position in the southern province of Zabul, a known Taliban hotspot. Two British soldiers have died in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence announced Sunday, bringing Britain's total losses since the 2001 US-led invasion to 232. Meanwhile, British politicians and military chiefs defended the war in Afghanistan yesterday. A new poll found further erosion in public support for the war amid mounting troop deaths, confusion over the mission and a lack of faith in its success - sparking renewed efforts to explain why Britain must stay the course. "British public opinion has been dented by the level of losses that we have received, but we cannot run a campaign like this off the back of an opinion poll," Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said.
Crowd on rampage
AMMAN: An angry crowd protesting the death of a man allegedly at the hands of police went on the rampage in Amman yesterday, burning and damaging cars and buildings and injuring six policemen. Anti-riot forces retaliated by firing teargas at the demonstrators, who had gathered in their hundreds in the Tafayeleh district of eastern Amman. The protest was sparked by the death on Sunday of Sadem Saud, 20, who was already declared clinically dead last month after allegedly being beaten up and detained by police following a brawl.
Thousands flock to divorce fair
PARIS: The city of romance got a lesson in love's hard knocks yesterday, as would-be divorces flocked by the thousands to the French capital's first annual divorce fair. In France, nearly one out of two marriages ends in divorce, according to the country's National Institute of Demographic Studies. More than 130,000 divorces were registered in 2007, as compared to just 50,000 three decades ago. The "New Start" trade fair aimed to tap into that booming market by bringing together 60 stands offering up both services obviously related to separation - law firms and counsellors - and also more obscure disciplines aimed at helping people get back on their feet, like tarot card readers, makeover specialists and self-esteem coaches.
Abbas urged not to quit
HEBRON: Thousands of Palestinians turned out in the West Bank yesterday to urge Mahmoud Abbas to run again for the presidency following his announcement that he did not want a second term in the job. Waving flags, Abbas supporters greeted the president as he conducted a rare tour of towns in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, part of the territories where the Palestinians aim to establish a state.
20 Taliban killed
ISLAMABAD: Twenty Taliban insurgents have been killed as Pakistan's military tries to consolidate gains in its offensive against the militants in the northwest tribal district, the army said yesterday. "In the last 24 hours, 20 terrorists have been killed and eight soldiers including an officer were injured," the military said. A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday in a crowded market in northwestern Pakistan, killing an anti-Taliban mayor who had formed a militia to fight the militants and 11 other people.
Sex through false wedding promise not rape: Indian judge
NEW DELHI: A New Delhi judge told Indian women to beware of men who promise marriage after a prospective bride accused her lover of rape because he failed to propose, a newspaper said Sunday.
The unnamed woman said she had effectively been raped because she only agreed to sleep with Arif Iqbal, 22, on the understanding that they would soon be man and wife, the Hindustan Times reported.
However Justice Kailash Gambhir said the woman, 23, had to accept the consequences after Iqbal went back on his vow to wed her.
"Mere promise of marriage should not have prompted (the victim) to establish a physical relationship with the accused," Gambhir said.
"It is the prime responsibility of the women to protect her modesty. A women should not throw herself to a man and indulge in promiscuity." The judge's statement was likely to anger women's rights groups in conservative India after other recent court verdicts backed the charge that a false promise of marriage did amount to rape.
The court heard that the couple had slept together for a year, having first had sex at the woman's family home after putting drugs in her parents' tea to make them fall asleep, the paper said.
