KABUL (TAP) -The Afghan government rejected allegations of torture in its prisons, calling them politically motivated.

RAMALLAH (TAP) - Differences with Washington over the UN bid are "still wide," a senior Palestinian official said on Wednesday after talks with US envoys in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

DAMASCUS (TAP)- Syrian rights activists say government security forces, backed by tanks, have killed at least seven people in an assault on the central flashpoint city of Homs.

WASHINGTON (TAP)- President Barack Obama's  use of a rare joint session of Congress to deliver a jobs speech on Thursday reflects a political strategy to try to blame Republicans for an economy at risk of sliding back into recession.

NEW DELHI (TAP) - A bomb apparently hidden in a suitcase exploded Wednesday morning outside a crowded gate leading to the High Court in New Delhi, killing nine people and wounding 45 others, officials said.