The Londoner

As Sir William Patey prepares to leave his office in Kabul with its magnificent view of the snow-capped Hindu Kush, it is not the beauty of the country occupying his thoughts. Scottish, outspoken and often controversial, he has always been an unlikely diplomat. The father-of-two is using his last days before he retires to urge the international community not to abandon Afghanistan in 2014 and rick repeating the mistakes of 2002. He said: “When we leave and the Afghans are responsible for security and delivering their own national health service and education service, this country will look like a different place – but it’s still got a long way to go. Read the full story here. 

DUSHANBE: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistanon Sunday reiterated their resolve to promote and strengthen trade and economic cooperation in the region besides joining hands to fight the menace of terrorism, militancy and drug trafficking for a win-win situation. This was agreed during a quadrilateral meeting among President Asif Ali Zardari, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon here in the Central Asian state. The leaders of four brotherly nations, who were together for Nowruz celebrations hosted by Tajikistan, used the occasion for a quadrilateral meeting to discuss matters of mutual interest including the ways and means to strengthen trade and economic cooperation among their countries. Read the full story here. 

Taipei, March 25 (CNA) The relaxation in cross-Taiwan Strait tension in recent years offers chances for interaction between Taiwan's military and China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), a scholar said Sunday.  The two sides could start with basic cooperation projects, Wang Kao-cheng of Tamkang University told a one-day forum held to address the nation's current defense status and future prospects.  Read the full story here. 

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama urged China  on Sunday to use its influence to rein in North Korea instead of "turning a blind eye" to its nuclear defiance, and warned of tighter sanctions if the reclusive state goes ahead with a rocket launch next month. "North Korea will achieve nothing by threats or provocations," a stern-faced Obama said after a tour of the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas resonant with echoes of the Cold War. Read the full story here. 

Critics are wrong when they say poverty has not declined. However, they are right, unknowingly though, when they say that the Planning Commission has not been entirely forthcoming about how it arrived at the poverty estimates it put out last week. The commission seems to have quietly tweaked the consumption data for 2009-10 used to estimate poverty. Hence, not only has it undercounted the poor in 2009-10 by some 18 million, it has also made it difficult to compare the poverty numbers with previous years—unless they too are adjusted similarly. Read the full story here.

BHUBANESWAR, India — Maoist rebels in India on Sunday released one of two Italian men who were kidnapped 11 days ago while on an adventure holiday trekking in the eastern state of Orissa. "It was a frightening experience. For the last four days, I was being promised that I will be released," Claudio Colangelo, a 61-year-old tourist from Rome, told the NDTV news channel after being freed. "Finally it has happened. I hope Paolo (Bosusco) is released soon. I hope they understand that Paolo has nothing to do with this war." Read the full story here..

The fate of a Pakistani Hindu woman who claims she was kidnapped, forcibly converted to  Islam  and married against her will is to be decided this week, after weeks of campaigning by the country's Hindu minority. The case of 19-year-old Rinkle Kumari has outraged Hindus from her small town in the south of the country, where community leaders accuse Muslims of preying on Hindu girls of marriageable age. Some claim similar cases are helping to fuel a steady outflow of  Pakistan 's tiny Hindu community as families choose to move to Hindu-majority India instead. In a hearing beginning on Monday, the supreme court in Islamabad will try to get to the bottom of the hotly contested versions of events. Read the full story here.