Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

Militants have attacked the offices of a US-based charity in northwest Pakistan, sparking heavy clashes with police that led to the killing of at least five people.

The unidentified gunmen stormed a building used by World Vision near Oghi town, in Mansehra district of North West Frontier Province on Wednesday, police said.

NATO forces are facing a shortfall of military trainers in Afghanistan, as European states refuse to contribute more troops to the war-torn country.

Admiral James Stavridis, head of the US military's European Command, said Tuesday that the NATO-run command has received only 541 of the promised 1,278 trainers needed in Afghanistan.

Myanmar's new election laws have barred opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from joining a political party, and thus from running in elections planned this year.

Myanmar's state-run newspapers on Wednesday published the Political Parties Registration Law, according to which more than 2,000 political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi are barred from contesting a general election.

Violence has claimed 19 lives in southern Afghanistan as the US secretary of defense visits the country.

A roadside bomb killed three policemen and a civilian in Spin Bolkdek in Kandahar province.

A group of South Korean anti-war protesters have denounced their government's joint military drills with US forces.

The pro-peace protesters held their rally near a US military base south of Seoul.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang says Beijing insists that diplomacy is the only way to end the standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

"We have said all along that the Iranian nuclear issue has to be peacefully resolved by diplomatic means through dialogue and negotiations," AFP quoted Qin as saying on Tuesday.

Japan has verified the existence of a secret nuclear pact with the United States that allows US forces to bring nuclear weapons into the country.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said on Tuesday that a panel of experts confirmed the existence of the pact after examining thousands of documents over a period of months.

At least two NATO soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan, eyewitnesses say.

The incident occurred in Khost Province's Ali Shir District near the border with Pakistan where a NATO army base is located.

Thailand's cabinet has passed a special law which gives security forces new powers such as imposing curfews and setting up security checkpoints.

The tough security act, which was approved on Tuesday, enables the army to take charge of handling the rallies.

Iran has spent more than $280 million in the reconstruction projects of Afghanistan so far, says Iran's envoy to its eastern neighbor.

"A total of $220 million has been spent in the road construction projects while more than $60 million was provided in education, telecommunications, electricity, borders security, health sector, higher education and sports,” Iran's Ambassador in Kabul, Fada Hussein Maleki, told Press TV in an exclusive interview.