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President, PM discuss current situation
Altaf contacts Zardari on phone
Tank: One security official martyred in attack on check post
Pakistan may tax ground shipments to NATO troops
US offeres $10m reward for Al Qaeda financieri
Fatah, Hamas leaders debate PLO reform in Cairo
10,000 US troops leave Afghanistan
Mass boycott of UN 'silence' for N Korea's Kim
Iran ready for IAEA visit 'as soon as possible': envoy
11 killed in attacks on Mexican buses, town
Who would first lady be in next life? Bo the dog
Oil rises for 4th day, touches $100 a barrel
Rare two-headed baby born in Brazil
Study linking virus and chronic fatigue retracted
State Deptt resists apology demand on NATO strike

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Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani called on President Asif Ali Zardari here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday. Current situation was discussed during the meeting. The prime minister briefed the president in detail about the Memogate issue and said that the government would take all the decisions according to law under the Constitution.

Altaf contacts Zardari on phone

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Chief of Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain contacted President Asif Ali Zardari on telephone. Current political situation in the country was discussed during the telephonic conversation. Both the leaders agreed on need to strengthen political institutions in the country. Talking to MQM leader, the president said that government will not take any step against national interests. The MQM chief said that the country cannot afford clash between institutions. He said that it is our duty to respect the dignity of the security institutions of the country. He further said that it is time to devise a strategy, with the mutual understanding of all the factions, for the stability of political institutions of the country.

Tank: One security official martyred in attack on check post

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According to sources, the miscreants attacked an FC post on night between Thursday and Friday in Mullazai area near Tank in Dera Ismail Khan, killing one security official and wounding four others. The miscreants fled from the scene when FC retaliated the attack. Heavy contingent of FC and police have been deployed in the area and a search operation has been started. The injured FC officials have been shifted to nearby hospital for treatment.

Pakistan may tax ground shipments to NATO troops

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Pakistan is considering plans to slap millions of dollars in new charges on future supplies taken through the country s land route for US-backed Western troops in Afghanistan, senior Pakistani government officials and a minister have told CBS News. The payments are being considered in the name of costs such as for "inspection of cargo" and "maintenance of infrastructure" worn down by trucks. Though the exact scale of funds planned to be earned remains unclear, senior Western diplomats warned that the move could further strain Pakistan s already troubled ties with the US-led international security assistance force or ISAF in Afghanistan. Western diplomats warned that Pakistan s demand for charging large sums of money on cargo for Afghanistan will not help improve its trust with its partners, including the US "The issue is not just financial. The problem is, we don t know how this plan (for higher charges) will play itself out diplomatically," one senior Western diplomat in Islamabad told CBS News on condition of anonymity. "I fear this plan will keep Pakistan locked in its currently strained relationship (with the US-led western alliance) because the message from Pakistan will be a negative one." Though Pakistan hasn t specified a timeline for resumption of the truck facility, the Pakistani government officials and a minister who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, said they expect it to be resumed within weeks. "Nobody wants to keep the facility shut forever. The bigger question now is, what will be the conditions attached for the future," said a senior government official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Pakistani government minister who also spoke on condition that he will not be named said "a decision has been reached in principal that when the supply route is re-opened, the trucks will have to bear a realistic cost which will go to the Pakistani government. In the past, each supply truck contributed less than $10 for passage through Pakistan. This is not realistic any more." Meanwhile, Pakistan s foreign ministry officials defended a parliamentary review of the truck facility for Afghanistan. "Obviously, one thing is very clear that this exercise is not to wreck our relations with any particular country. This exercise is to streamline our cooperation on such a sensitive issue," said Abdul Basit, the spokesman of the foreign ministry in Islamabad.

US offeres $10m reward for Al Qaeda financieri

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The United States on Thursday offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a key Al-Qaeda fundraiser, who is said to be a Syrian operating from Iran. The reward for Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil marks the first time that a "terrorist financier" has been targeted in such a way, said Robert Hartung, assistant director for threat investigations with the State Department. According to US officials, the man also known as Yacine al-Suri was born in Syria in 1982. He was put on a US Treasury Department blacklist in July when he was described as a high-level Al-Qaeda "facilitator." The Treasury statement said then that Khalil has operated from inside Iran since 2005 "under an agreement between Al-Qaeda and the Iranian government." He moves Qaeda money and recruits from across the Middle East through Iran and then to Pakistan "for the benefit of Al-Qaeda senior leaders," it added. "Al-Suri is an important fundraiser for Al-Qaeda and has collected money from donors and fundraisers throughout the Persian Gulf region," the State Department said Thursday in a statement. "He has funneled significant amounts of money via Iran to Al-Qaeda s leadership in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Working with the Iranian government, Al-Suri also arranges the release of Al-Qaeda personnel from Iranian prisons. When Al-Qaeda operatives are released, the Iranian government transfers them to the custody of al-Suri, who then coordinates their travel to Pakistan," the State Department added. The $10 million was posted as part of the program "Rewards for Justice," set up in 1984, with the aim of hunting down suspects wanted for terror acts against the United States. Khalil is the only individual based in Iran who has been targeted under the program which according to the State Department has already handed out more than $100 million in exchange for information about wanted suspects. However, the US administration refuses to discuss the details of the information it has received or to openly identify those arrested, saying it needs to protect its informants. Two cases have however come to light -- the sons of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Uday and Qusay, who were found in July 2003 in Mosul and killed by US forces trying to arrest them. The current head of Al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has the highest bounty on his head of $25 million.

Fatah, Hamas leaders debate PLO reform in Cairo

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Palestinian factions, including Hamas, are "on the path joining" the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal told AFP Thursday following unity talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Abbas and Meshaal met to discuss reforming the PLO, in a bid to allow the Islamist movement and 13 other Palestinian factions to join. "This is a new departure on the path to joining the PLO of all Palestinian movements", Meshaal said following the talks in the Egyptian capital. The Hamas leader said there was "an excellent atmosphere" surrounding his meeting with Abbas, which also included Egyptian intelligence chief Murad Muwafi and Palestinian independents.  Independent MP Mustafa Barghouti said the participation of unaffiliated delegates such as himself and businessman Munib al-Masri alongside representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad was "a historic event." "It is the first time there is a unified leadership for all political and intellectual streams," he told AFP. In a statement, Hamas said the groups had decided to create an electoral commission, including members of every Palestinian faction, tasked with managing elections within the PLO. The commission will be led the speaker of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), Selim Zaanoun, and will meet in Jordan s capital next month. "A law concerning elections to the PLO was given to the participants for them to study and each movement is to give its response for January 15 so that it can be discusssed at the first meeting of the commission", the statement added.  Thursday s meeting of the so-called provisional leadership, which was chaired by Abbas, included the leaders of all the Palestinian factions and members of the PLO Executive Committee. Earlier Thursday, Abbas signed off on the creation of a separate nine-member panel to chart a path forward for Palestinian presidential and legislative elections. It was the first time the provisional leadership body had met since it was formed in 2005 with the aim of providing a forum for debating reform of the PLO and allowing for the participation of factions such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. This meeting was "the first concrete application of the Cairo agreement, of the reconciliation and of the partnership between all the political forces," Fatah delegation head Azzam al-Ahmed said earlier on Thursday.

10,000 US troops leave Afghanistan

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President Barack Obama s order to withdraw 10,000 American troops from Afghanistan this year has been accomplished, a little more than a week before the year-end deadline, military officials said Thursday. The drawdown is the first step in the plan to wind down the war, transition security to Afghan forces and end the combat role for international troops by the end of 2014. It also gives the Obama administration a second war-related accomplishment to tout this month coming just a week after  officials marked the end of the war in Iraq and the last convoy of American soldiers rumbled out of that country into Kuwait. Officials say there are now 91,000  troops in Afghanistan down from the peak of 101,000 in June. In December 2009 Obama announced he was sending an additional 33,000 troops to Afghanistan in a bid to beat back the escalating Taliban insurgency and change the course of the war. Six months ago, declaring that the "tide of war is receding," Obama said he would withdraw 10,000 troops by the end of this year, and another 23,000 by the end of next summer. The decision was met with initial opposition from military leaders who thought the withdrawal was too much, too soon, particularly since it would pull troops out before the end of next year s fighting season, which can last well into October and even November. Last week, however, during a trip to Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta repeatedly told troops that a turning point had reached in the war. And at one point he went so far as to say, "I really think that for all the sacrifices that you re doing, the reality is that it is paying off and that we re moving in the right direction. ... We re winning this very tough conflict here in Afghanistan."

Mass boycott of UN 'silence' for N Korea's Kim

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The United States, Japan, South Korea and leading European nations on Thursday boycotted a minute of silence at the UN General Assembly demanded by North Korea for its late leader Kim Jong-Il. The UN tribute was the highest profile international move sought yet by the North s government as it seeks global recognition for the hardline leader who died on Saturday at the age of 69. The awkward silence was a "protocol" move following a North Korean request, according to UN General Assembly president Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser. Many diplomats from countries which took part in the protest called the tribute "inappropriate." They said the UN Security Council turned down North Korea s demand for a gesture to the late strongman. North Korea s UN ambassador Sin Son-Ho and another diplomat from the North Korean mission stood with their heads bowed during the silence but barely a third of the General Assembly s 193 members were present. Britain, France, Germany and most members of the 27-nation European Union joined the protest. "It is my sad duty to pay tribute to the memory of the late Kim Jong-Il," said Nasser at the start of the assembly session. He listed Kim s official titles -- head of the ruling Workers Party, head of the military commission and supreme commander of the North s military -- before calling on the North s ambassador "to convey condolences to the government and the people" of North Korea. Nasser called on all envoys "to stand and observe a minute of silence in tribute to the memory of the late leader". While Kim s isolated country has been whipped into mass grief, many foreign nations have sought to avoid officially offering condolences. "This is a man who is responsible for probably tens of thousands of deaths. He is not a model for the UN," said one European diplomat, explaining the boycott.

Iran ready for IAEA visit 'as soon as possible': envoy

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Tehran s envoy to the UN atomic agency said Thursday he would meet the watchdog s chief nuclear inspector in Vienna in the first week of January to arrange a visit to Iran as soon as possible. "As soon as the holidays are over we will sit down with Mr (Herman)  Nackaerts and arrange the visit," Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Tehran s envoy to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. "As far as we are concerned his team can come as soon as they are ready," Soltanieh said, adding that the meeting would happen in the first week of January and that the visit could take place later the same month. He said Iran had renewed an earlier invitation despite its "disappointment" that inspectors had not visited ahead of a November IAEA report on Iran s suspected covert nuclear weapons activities. "Once again we have decided to show political will and our good intentions to cooperate with the IAEA in order to demonstrate transparency about the exclusively peaceful nature of our activities," the envoy said. He added that he wanted the visit by inspectors to ensure that "past mistakes are not repeated... and to end this endless process once and for all." News earlier this week of Iran s renewed invitation to inspectors was greeted with scepticism by Western diplomats to the IAEA, who expressed doubts that Iran would help clear up issues in the November 8 report.

11 killed in attacks on Mexican buses, town

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A group of armed men attacked people traveling by bus through the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, killing seven. Mexican officials say a group of armed men attacked people traveling by bus through the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, killing seven. The state prosecutor s office says in a statement that the same gunmen killed four other people in the Veracruz town of El Higo. Both attacks took place early Thursday. The statement says that law-enforcement agents confronted the gunmen, killing five in a gunbattle. On Wednesday, federal officials announced they were disbanding the police in the state s port city of Veracruz and sending in units of marines to patrol the streets.

Who would first lady be in next life? Bo the dog

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In a television interview, the first lady was asked what person or thing she would want to come back as when she dies. She named her family s Portuguese water dog. "He s got a great life," she told ABC News  Barbara Walters. President Barack Obama took a pass on the question, one in a series the first couple faced for an upcoming holiday TV special. Asked when he tells lies, the president said only in personal interactions with family members, such as when commenting on how someone looks in a particular dress. As for his biggest pet peeve about his wife, the president said he had none. She said of him: "My list is too long."

Oil rises for 4th day, touches $100 a barrel

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The price of benchmark crude rose 86 cents to finish at $99.53 per barrel in New York. At one point in the session it hit $100.05. Brent crude, which is used to price crude produced in many foreign countries and is important for  gasoline producers, rose 18 cents to end at $107.89 per barrel in London. A series of positive reports in the suggested that the economy is slowly improving. That has sent stock prices and oil prices higher this week. Investors got a double-barrel of encouraging news Thursday, as the Labor Department said unemployment claims last week dropped to the lowest level in more than three and a half years, and a private report said leading economic indicators pointed to a strengthening economy. On Tuesday, a report showed housing construction was picking up in the  And on Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration reported a dramatic drop in the nation s oil supplies last week. Gasoline demand was down 2.6 percent from last year through the first nine months of the year, according to government data. Drivers cut back amid high pump prices and worries about the economy. Demand for oil and gas grows with the economy as shippers move more goods and consumers drive and fly more. Oil prices are also being pushed higher by threats to global supplies. Rising tensions between the West and Iran over Iran s nuclear ambitions are raising fears that oil from the world s fourth biggest producer may be kept from reaching markets in the coming weeks. Oil traders also are concerned about political instability in Kazakhstan, which exports about 1.3 million barrels of oil per day, about 1.5 percent of world demand. The Central Asian nation has been battling political protests that have resulted in more than a dozen deaths in the last month.

Rare two-headed baby born in Brazil

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A two-headed baby born in Brazil this week is actually a set of conjoined twins sharing one body because of a rare birth defect, doctors said Thursday. The twins, born on Monday and named Jesus and Emanuel in honor of the upcoming Christmas holiday, have distinct brains and spinal cords but share internal organs, appearing as a single baby with two heads. Because both brains are functioning and the twins are in stable condition, doctors have ruled out any kind of surgery for the moment, according to the Santa Casa de Misericordia Hospital in the northern town of Belem. The two babies "would be twins but ended up being joined together because of a delay in the cellular division," the hospital said. "It s important to understand that this is two babies and not one baby with two heads," said Dr Neila Dahas, assistant director of the hospital. "They underwent a battery of tests, and it was found that there are two distinct brains and spinal columns, but they share the other organs." Dahas added that "it is impossible to make a decision regarding surgery, for both physical and ethical reasons." The hospital said the 23-year-old mother only learned that she was pregnant with twins at the time of the delivery, when an ultrasound was performed. The condition, known as dicephalic parapagus, is extremely rare. But one set of twins born with the condition in 1990, Americans Abby and Brittany Hensel, have led a relatively normal life in the US state of Minnesota and appeared in a documentary in 2008.

Study linking virus and chronic fatigue retracted

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In an unusual move, Science is taking that step on its own. Normally, authors retract their own research papers when serious problems arise after publication. But Science has lost confidence in the report and the validity of its conclusions, editor-in-chief Bruce Alberts writes in Friday s issue. He said most of the authors have agreed in principle to retract the paper, "but they have been unable to agree on the wording of their statement." A retraction signed by all the authors "is unlikely to be forthcoming," Alberts wrote. The original paper, from scientists at the Whittemore Peterson Institute in Nevada and the National Cancer Institute, reported finding a virus called XMRV in blood cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. That raised hope that a cause of the mysterious illness had been found. But follow-up studies by other scientists found no evidence of such a link. Last May, Science published two reports suggesting the original finding was due to lab contamination. At the time, Alberts published a statement declaring that the validity of the study was "now seriously in question." Then in September, the authors retracted some of the data, citing contamination. In his statement on the full retraction, Alberts said the authors had also acknowledged omitting important information about the study s procedures in an illustration of some lab results. Robert Silverman of the Cleveland Clinic, one of the paper s 13 authors, said in a statement Thursday that he was pleased by the full retraction. He said he had sought one this summer after finding that blood samples were contaminated. The Whittemore Peterson Institute is preparing a statement about the retraction, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

State Deptt resists apology demand on NATO strike

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Despite admitting its mistake and expressing "regret" repreatedly, the US today refused to meet the key Pakistani demand of an apology for the cross border NATO strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. "I don t know -- an apology... you can figure that out for your own. I can only say what we are trying to express with this investigation," Toner said when reporters repeatedly asked why the US was not using the term apology, which has been a major demand of Pakistan. The US, Toner said, conducted this investigation in a very transparent manner. "We found culpability on both sides of miscommunications, errors... a lack of trust that led to this incident. We have expressed our deepest regret, but we ve also accepted responsibility for the mistakes that were ours," Toner said. The State Department spokesman said that General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, had a "professional and cordial" conversation with General Ashfaq Kayani, the head of the Pakistani military, about the report on December 21. Gen Dempsey has also offered to send a team to Pakistan for briefing on the findings of the probe.

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