Clinton dismisses speculation about vice presidency
Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has dismissed speculation that she could switch jobs with Vice President Joe Biden before the 2012 election.
Rumours of a possible swap elevated when longtime Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward said on CNN Tuesday night that the White House was keeping that option open.
But the White House and Clinton have flatly rejected the suggestion.
"I have absolutely no interest and no reason for doing anything other than just dismissing these stories and moving on, because there's just no - we have no time," Clinton said Wednesday. "We have so much to do. And I think both of us are very happy doing what we are doing."
The rumours have been fuelled by polls showing Clinton in better standing with voters than Biden, and that bringing her on the ballot in 2012 would strengthen President Barack Obama's re-election bid.
A recent Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll showed that 55 per cent of voters would prefer Clinton as vice president, compared to 25 per cent for Biden.
Clinton and Obama ran bitter campaigns against each other for the Democratic nomination in 2008. After Obama defeated Republican John McCain for the presidency, Clinton and Obama put aside their differences and she agreed to become secretary of state.
US backs Afghan talks with Taliban
Washington - The United States backs Afghan government-led talks with the Taliban as part of a strategy to pursue a political track in addition to the military's role in resolving the conflict.
The Obama administration has long supported any Afghan efforts to reach out to members of the Taliban who would be willing to renounce violence and accept the current government and laws of Afghanistan.
"To those elements who are willing to accept the criteria that are shared by the Afghan government and the Afghan people and by the international community, we support this process," State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said Wednesday.
The Washington Post reported earlier that Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government was engaged in secret talks. Citing Arab and Afghan sources, the article said the high-level talks could involve a Taliban agreement on a peace deal with a timeline for withdrawal of international forces.
Crowley would not confirm ongoing talks, and said the United States is not involved in direct discussions with the Taliban.
"This will actually have to be ultimately an arrangement done by the Afghan government," he said. "We support it, but we will not be directly involved in it."
EXTRA: Report: Terrorist targets named in Berlin, Paris
Washington - US broadcaster Fox News Sunday reported that possible European terrorist targets included a hotel and train station in Berlin and two major landmarks in Paris.
The broadcaster said it had confirmed the information through two intelligence sources about the plots, which prompted the US government Sunday to issue a travel alert against journeys to Europe. The alert was one step short of a warning.
Fox said the potential targets included the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and the luxury Hotel Adlon near Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, Berlin's new Central Station and its landmark Alexanderplatz TV tower.
One of the sources cited by Fox news was a senior western intelligence official, who said the information was gleaned from the interrogation of a German-Pakistani national at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
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