"The war against the Taliban cannot be won"

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Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the departing commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said in an interview on Sunday that the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan cannot be decisively won and that a new approach must be taken towards the conflict, with an emphasis on negotiations rather than violence. He said: "If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that's precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this. That shouldn't make people uncomfortable."Keep up to date with the latest developments and sharpest perspectives in a world of strife and struggle.

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The toD verdict: Carleton-Smith's announcement comes in the midst of what British defence chiefs have called a "stalemate" in Afghanistan and, whilst the Afghan defence minister has expressed disappointment with the comments, all parties involved recognise that a military solution alone is not enough to squash the Taliban insurgency.

The statement also followed the British government's denial of the claim that the UK believes that the military campaign in Afghanistan is doomed to failure, and that a suitable dictator must be found. These rumours came after a leaked cable by François Fitou, the deputy French ambassador in Kabul, recounting talks between himself and Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British ambassador.

On Monday, Kabul saw the opening of registration for next year's presidential vote amid fears that the Taliban and local warlords will carry out campaigns of fear and intimidation. Taliban attacks edged closer to Kabul this summer, killing aid workers, soldiers and police officers, and it is feared that violence will derail the registration of millions of voters. Violence in Afghanistan is at its worse since 2001, when the US-led invasion overthrew the Taliban.

Sri Lankan bombing kills opposition party official

A suicide bomb attack at the opposition United National Party offices in Anuradhapura in northern Sri Lanka killed 27 and injured 80 people on Monday. The attack, blamed on the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, is thought to have purposefully targeted Janaka Perera, a former general who became the United National Provincial Commander of the North-Western Province and was amongst those killed in the explosion. Perera had led several successful campaigns against Tamil guerrillas, who accused him of being responsible for hundreds of deaths and the torture of Tamils in the region. The explosion came just hours after a roadside bomb attack near the popular tourist destination of Anuradhapura left two people dead and one wounded.

Islamist insurgents demand weapons

Members of the Al Shabaab group opposing the Somali interim government, and linked by the United States to al-Qaida, have reportedly demanded weapons from the Somali pirates aboard a hijacked Ukrainian ship. The request was reportedly denied. Pirates captured the ship two weeks ago near Hobyo in central Somalia and are demanding $20 million in ransom. Somali pirates have seized more that 30 vessels off the coast of their anarchic country so far this year and received amounts between $18-30 million in ransoms.

The rising popularity of protective clothing

The Avenida Presidente Masarik in Mexico City, lined with designer clothes shop, also houses another more alternative fashion trend at the Miguel Caballero boutique. All the garments at this shop, frequented by Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Álvaro Uribe of Colombia, not to mention assorted royalty, movie stars and other V.I.P.'s, are bulletproof. This trend is a testament to rising violence in Mexico and Latin America, much of it linked with the drug trade. Branches have recently opened in Guatemala City, Johannesburg and London.

Over thirty dead during ethnic disputes in India

Police shot at violent mobs in northeastern India on Sunday, killing at least 14 people and raising the death toll from three days of ethnic clashes to at least 30, officials said on Sunday. An estimated 25,000 people have been displaced. The clashes erupted between members of the ethnic Bodo group and Muslim settlers when a group of young Bodo men were attacked on Friday after they finished patrolling their villages. Long-standing tensions between the two groups have been caused by land disputes. During the 1990s there were sporadic clashes between Bodos and settlers, leaving at least 250 dead and forcing approximately 300,000 villages to flee their homes. Nearly 100,000 are still living in makeshift camps.

Turkey attacks rebel bases in Iraq

Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq on Sunday, two days after 15 soldiers were killed in a rebel attack which was operated partly from Iraq. The deputy chief of Turkey's army accused the Iraqis of tolerating Kurdish rebels, while the Iraqi national government has pledged to cooperate with Turkey. This upsurge of violence between Kurds and Turks has followed months of relative peace since February, when Turkey staged a weeklong ground offensive against guerrillas based in northern Iraq.

Obama accused of terrorist links

Sarah Palin has accused the US presidential candidate Barack Obama of "palling around" with terrorists, following statements from the McCain campaign on Saturday that linked Obama with the radical Bill Ayers, a founder of the leftist militant outfit Weather Underground, which operated during the Vietnam era. Whilst Obama and Ayers are acquainted, however, the Democrat's campaign team denies that they "pal around" and have insisted that Obama certainly wasn't involved in any Weather Underground terrorist activities as he was eight years old at the time of the group's most serious actions. Obama has criticised what he calls a Republican "smear campaign" and "gutter politics" which distract voters' attention from real issues.