Letterman apologizes to wife on Monday night’s show

After declaring last week that he won’t publicly discuss his sexual relationships with staffers again, David Letterman continued his mea culpa Monday night — apologizing to his wife who, he said, had been “horribly hurt by my behavior.”

The host of CBS’ “Late Show” said he now has to try to repair his relationship with Regina Lasko.

“Either you’re going to make some progress and get it fixed, or you’re going to fall short and perhaps not get it fixed, so let me tell you folks, I got my work cut out for me,” he told the audience.

The apology came about 15 minutes into the show, but Letterman fired self-deprecating zinger after zinger as soon as he strode on stage and began his opening monologue.

“I mean, I’ll be honest with you folks,” he said. “Right now, I would give anything to be hiking on the Appalachian Trail. I got in the car this morning — and the navigation lady wasn’t speaking to me.”

Original post credit: CNN

Clinton, Gates: U.S. in Afghanistan for long haul

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a rare joint interview, said Monday that the United States is committed to a regional strategy to build long-standing relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Speaking at George Washington University for a program to be broadcast Tuesday on CNN, the two members of President Obama’s Cabinet insisted that the president’s deliberate approach to set the right objectives and policies for Afghanistan was necessary and proper.

The Taliban insurgency currently has the momentum in Afghanistan, Gates said, adding that a Taliban takeover of the country would empower the al Qaeda terrorist network.

“Because of our inability and the inability, frankly, of our allies to put enough troops in Afghanistan, the Taliban do have the momentum right now,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and former CNN Washington Bureau Chief Frank Sesno in the panel discussion that included Clinton.

Original post credits: CNN

North Korea ‘may return to talks’

North Korea says it may be willing to return to six-party international talks on its nuclear weapons programme, state media has reported.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is said to have made the announcement to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who is currently visiting Pyongyang.

But Pyongyang said the return would be dependent on the progress of its planned bilateral talks with the US.

The US says it remains ready to engage with North Korea.

A US state department spokesman said the aim for Washington was to convince Pyongyang to take the path to complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

The spokesman said this remained the core objective, and that the multi-party process was the best mechanism for achieving that.

Original post credit: BBC News

Oil lingers below $70 as traders eye earnings

Oil prices lingered below $70 as investors looked to third quarter company earnings reports this week for clues to the health of the U.S. economy.

Benchmark crude for November deliver was down 5 cents at $69.90 by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 87 cents to settle at $69.95 on Friday.

Last week, weak economic data weighed on crude prices. The U.S. reported worse than expected manufacturing and jobs numbers, with the unemployment rate rising to 9.8 percent in September, the highest since 1983.

U.S. oil inventory data was mixed last week, suggesting consumer demand has yet to rebound strongly from the recession.

“Economic and oil data remain consistent with a macro economy just beginning to push off the trough, leaving markets with a lack of clear direction,” Goldman Sachs said in a report.

original post @ Yahoo Finance

Al Qaeda’s Diminished Role Stirs Afghan Troop Debate

Since first invading Afghanistan nearly a decade ago, America set one primary goal: Eliminate al Qaeda’s safe haven.

Today, intelligence and military officials say they’ve severely constrained al Qaeda’s ability to operate there and in Pakistan — and that’s reshaping the debate over U.S. strategy in the region.

Hunted by U.S. drones, beset by money problems and finding it tougher to lure young Arabs to the bleak mountains of Pakistan, al Qaeda is seeing its role shrink there and in Afghanistan, according to intelligence reports and Pakistani and U.S. officials. Conversations intercepted by the U.S. show al Qaeda fighters complaining of shortages of weapons, clothing and, in some cases, food. The number of foreign fighters in Afghanistan appears to be declining, U.S. military officials say.

original post @ WSJ

Heavy US losses in Afghan battle

Eight American soldiers and two Afghan troops have been killed in the deadliest attack on coalition troops for more than a year, officials say.

The battle happened in Nuristan province in the remote east of the country when military outposts were attacked, a Nato statement said.

The Taliban said it carried out the attack, and had captured local police.

Violence has escalated in eastern Afghanistan as insurgents have relocated from the south.

In a statement, Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said that tribal militia launched attacks on foreign and Afghan military outposts from a mosque and a nearby village.

The attack is thought to have taken place in the Kamdesh district of Nuristan, and lasted several hours.

original post @ BBC News