US and India
U.S. and Indian forces wrapped up their largest joint military exercise to date, practicing a set of maneuvers simulating environments in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 200 troops from the U.S. 2nd Battalion, 14th Calvary Squadron brought 17 Stryker combat vehicles from Hawaii to practice maneuvers with their counterparts in the Indian armed forces. It was the largest deployment of U.S. Strykers to a theater outside of war. Indian soldiers were familiarized with the vehicle but were restricted from driving or using sensitive communications equipment.

Afghanistan
Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president, on Wednesday denied reports that he has received regular payments from the CIA for much of the past eight years.

US and Afghanistan
US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan could be breaking international laws against summary executions, the UN’s top investigator of such crimes said. “The problem with the United States is that it is making an increased use of drones/Predators (which are) particularly prominently used now in relation to Pakistan and Afghanistan,” UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions Philip Alston told a press conference. “My concern is that drones/Predators are being operated in a framework which may well violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” he said

Pakistan
Revelations by the brother of Jundallah leader Abdolmalek Rigi indicate that the US has promised the anti-Iran terrorist group a safe haven in Pakistan. In a recent interview with Press TV, Abdulhamid Rigi, who is in Iran’s custody, claimed he had visited the US Embassy in Pakistan, asking the Americans to cooperate with the terrorist group. “The most important issue that I raised was Jundallah’s security in Pakistan,” he said. According to him, the Pakistani government knows about the whereabouts of the Jundallah terror group. “It is impossible to believe that Pakistan is unaware of Jundallah’s presence on its soil,” he said. “Pakistan is a perfect haven for Jundallah.”

Russia and Chile
A Russian regional lawmaker has been arrested in Chile and is facing extradition to Russia where he is wanted on fraud charges, a business daily said on Tuesday. Sergei Zadnepryansky, 57, a lawmaker in a small west Siberian town, was arrested by Interpol at Russia’s request and is now in jail in the Chilean capital of Santiago, Kommersant reported. He was put on the wanted list in April 2008 after fleeing the country when a probe was launched into his activities. Zadnepryansky is suspected of failing to repay Sberbank a total of over 120 million rubles ($4.1 million at the current exchange rate) in loans he received in 2004 and 2005, the paper said.

Pentagon
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has a plan to end the practice of stop loss, in which soldiers are kept in the military past their contracted service dates. But Pentagon officials say it looks as though the plan will not be put in place before 2011.

Ecuador and Russia
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa will come to Moscow to discuss weapons supplies, but the Kremlin also expects him to speak about the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced the recognition of the two breakaway Georgian republics in September 2008, and in December Russia granted Nicaragua a $1 billion loan. Venezuela was issued a $2.2 billion loan for the purchase of Russian weapons during the visit by President Hugo Chavez in September this year, when he announced the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Karadzic
[S]ome of the most intriguing evidence looks likely to come from Mr Karadzic himself, in the form of intercepted and covertly recorded calls and transcripts of his political speeches. In one wiretap from October 1991, Mr Tieger told the court, Mr Karadzic bragged about what “was coming for Sarajevo”. “Sarajevo will be a black cauldron where Muslims will die,” Mr Karadzic was quoted as saying on the wiretap. “They will disappear, that people will disappear from the face of the earth.”

Russia and US
US National Security Adviser James Jones travels to Moscow this week for talks aimed at forging a new US-Russian agreement on limiting their nuclear arsenals, the White House said Tuesday.

Uruguay
Uruguay’s governing left-wing coalition has won a parliamentary majority for a second mandate after Sunday’s general election.