India and Pakistan foreign ministers meet

The Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers have begun talks in Islamabad in an effort to revive peace talks that froze after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan says all issues are on the table for the meeting between Shah Mehmood Qureshi and India's SM Krishna.

Islamabad is expected to bring up its complaint that India is diverting water from rivers that cross the border.

The talks are the third high-level contact in six months and the foreign ministers' first meeting since 2008.

In February, the two nations' senior foreign ministry officials met in Delhi. Last month, their home ministers met in Islamabad.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in the Pakistani capital says after the turbulent times between the two nuclear neighbours, these talks will be feted as a success, simply if they do not collapse.

The 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks - which severely damaged relations between the two - are expected to be the focus of the talks.

India blamed the bloodshed - in which Islamist gunmen killed more than 160 people - on Pakistan-based militants. After initial denials, Pakistan later admitted the attacks were partly planned on its soil.

Recent violence in the divided Kashmir region - at the heart of hostility between the neighbours - may also be discussed.

As the two ministers met, news emerged that the second Indian army major in as many days had been killed in a bitter firefight with militants in mountainous forest at Poonch district, Indian-administered Kashmir.

Separatists in the region began an insurgency against Indian rule in 1989 - a movement almost immediately backed by Pakistan - and since then tens of thousands of people have been killed.

Mostly Muslim Kashmir has been the cause of two of three wars between Pakistan and India since independence from Britain in 1947.

After his arrival in Islamabad, Mr Krishna said he was hopeful of a new beginning in relations.

"Pakistan must realise that India harbours no ill-will against it and the cancer of terrorism needs to be rooted out completely," the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency quoted him as telling reporters.

Mr Krishna is also due to meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Relations between the two countries, which have fought three wars since the subcontinent was divided in 1947, have been bedevilled by border and resource disputes.

Iranian scientist in US torture claim on return home

The Iranian scientist who claims he was kidnapped by US agents has said he was mentally and physically tortured.

On his arrival back in Tehran where he was greeted by his family, Shahram Amiri denied that he was heavily involved in Iran’s nuclear programme.

The US says the scientist defected voluntarily but then changed his mind.

But Amiri repeated his claim that he was abducted while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia last year.

“Within the first two months, I was subjected to fierce mental and physical torture by agents and interrogators from the CIA,” said the scientist, who was accompanied by a senior foreign ministry official.

“I’m amazed that someone like the US Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton) – who claims to be an advocate of human rights – says that I was free and went there of my own free will. I have documents and evidence that show I was never free, I was not allowed to make a call or talk to anybody, and I was under the control of armed CIA guards,” he said.

Iran has portrayed Amiri’s return as a blow to American intelligence services. The scientist also claimed that the CIA had offered him $50m (40m€) to stay in the US.

But officials in Washington say he co-operated freely and provided useful information about Iran’s nuclear programme. They have suggested that Amiri returned home because he feared for his family’s safety.

On Monday, Amiri turned up at the Iranian interests section of Pakistan’s US embassy and asked to be repatriated.

Billboard linking Obama, Hitler draws complaints

A billboard created by an Iowa tea party group that compares President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin is drawing sharp criticism — even from fellow tea party activists who have condemned it as offensive and a waste of money.

The North Iowa Tea Party began displaying the billboard in downtown Mason City last week. The sign shows large photographs of Obama, Nazi leader Hitler and communist leader Lenin beneath the labels "Democrat Socialism," "National Socialism," and "Marxist Socialism."

Beneath the photos is the phrase, "Radical leaders prey on the fearful & naive."

The co-founder of the roughly 200-person group said the billboard was intended to send an anti-socialist message. But Bob Johnson admitted Tuesday that the message may have gotten lost amid the images of fascist and communist leaders.

"The purpose of the billboard was to draw attention to the socialism. It seems to have been lost in the visuals," Johnson said. "The pictures overwhelmed the message. The message is socialism." He said he didn't know of any plans to remove the sign.

But others in the tea party movement criticized the sign.

"That's just a waste of money, time, resources and it's not going to further our cause," said Shelby Blakely, a leaders of the Tea Party Patriots, a national group. "It's not going to help our cause. It's going to make people think that the tea party is full of a bunch of right-wing fringe people, and that's not true."

Blakely also expressed outrage at linking Obama to Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany who oversaw the killing of 6 million Jews and whose invasions of neighboring countries led to World War II.

"When you compare Obama to Hitler, that to me does a disservice to the Jews who both survived and died in the Holocaust and to the Germans who lived under Nazi regime rule," Blakely said.

John White, an Iowa coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots, said that he can understand the North Iowa group's perception that Obama is "Hitler-esque," but he thinks the billboard is offensive and unproductive. White said that he planned to discuss the matter with national tea party officials.

"I fear they may end up in some kind of trouble over it, because it's basically slanderous," White said. "I don't know that it's the message we want to send. I'd much rather see billboards that say 'Remember in November. Get Out and Vote.'"

The billboard is owned by Waitt Outdoor of Omaha, Neb. Waitt general manager, Kent Beatty, said the company didn't have a problem with the message.

"We believe in freedom of speech," Beatty said. "It doesn't reflect our views, necessarily."

The White House declined to comment on the sign.

One person who welcomed the billboard was Dean Genth, a Democratic activist from Mason City, a city of 30,000 people just south of the Minnesota border, who said he thinks the sign lays bare the views of tea party supporters.

"I welcome them to continue to spew that kind of stuff because I think it's going to do a lot of good for the good Democrats around the state," Genth said.

Burglar steals iconic Cheltenham Gold Cup in £150,000 house raid

The Cheltenham Gold Cup has been stolen in a house burglary along with other high-value racing trophies worth more than £150,000.

The Challenge Cup and the Britannia Handicap Cup were also among the items taken in the raid after the offenders forced their way into a property between midnight and 6.50am this morning.

The Cheltenham Cup - racing's most famous trophy - is made of solid gold and is worth around £10,000.

Bronze ornaments in the shape of a hare, a spaniel with a pheasant in its mouth and two horses being ridden by jockeys were also stolen along with other items.

Police attended the scene in Wormington near Broadway, Gloucestershire, and are appealing to witnesses to come forward.

The iconic Cheltenham Gold Cup race - dating back to 1819 - takes place every year. This year it was won by jockey Paddy Brennan.

Steinbrenner Heirs Will Dodge Massive Estate Tax

(Newser) – It's an auspicious year for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to die—at least for his heirs. They'll dodge massive estate taxes because the federal inheritance tax law has expired, leaving legacies largely untapped by Uncle Sam. Steinbrenner's estate is estimated at $1.1 billion. Had he died last year, his estate could owe some $500 million in inheritance taxes.

Even with capital gains taxes on the increased value in Steinbrenner's assets, his heirs still stand to save some $330 million. To put it in perspective: A Rod's salary this year was a "mere" $32 million. "If you're super wealthy, it's a good year to die," an attorney told AP. One asset that's staying in the portfolio is the team. "The team will not be sold," said Yankees president Randy Levine.

Abu Dhabi eyes BP stake purchase

Abu Dhabi eyes BP stake purchase

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi’s powerful crown prince, says that the wealthy emirate is still considering whether to invest in BP

Steinbrenner Suffers Heart Attack

New York Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner reportedly suffered a heart attack this morning. The 80 year old Steinbrenner, who paid $10 million for the team in 1973, was vilified in the press in his early years of owning the iconic franchise for meddling too much. Yet Steinbrenner may go down as the greatest owner in baseball history. Under his reign the team has won 11 pennants, 7 world championships and is now worth $1.6 billion, almost twice the value of the New York Mets. More important, Steinbrenner rebuilt the Yankee brand, which had been debased during the years CBS owned the franchise (Steinbrenner is the only owner to pay less for an MLB team than his predecessor) but is now worth $328 million, making the New York Yankees the most valuable sports brand in the world. Steinbrenner also had the foresight to leverage that brand into building the most valuable regional sports channel in the country (YES Network) and joining forces with the Dallas Cowboys to create Legends Hospitality Management, a stadium services business.