WASHINGTON – US employers unexpectedly cut more jobs in September than in August, underscoring the fragility of the economy’s recovery from its worst recession in 70 years as businesses remain cautious about the future.

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COPENHAGEN – The top commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan met President Barack Obama yesterday for the first time since presenting a grim assessment of the war effort and requesting more troops.

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DUBLIN - The European Union’s hopes of greater global clout rested on Ireland, with a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty that could tip the bloc into crisis if voters reject it for a second time.

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JERUSALEM – An Israeli soldier held captive for the past three years by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas smiled briefly and looked healthy in a two-minute Hamas video handed over to Israel yesterday.

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MOSUL, Iraq - For a city under constant attack at the hands of a violent Sunni Arab insurgency, northern Iraq’s Mosul looks in better shape than it has for many years.

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MOGADISHU – Somalia’s al Shabaab rebels took full control of the southern port of Kismayu yesterday and sought to play down fears that clashes with their ousted rivals Hizbul Islam might spread to other areas.

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YANGON – A court in army-ruled Myanmar upheld its guilty verdict on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday, a legal source said, a ruling likely to keep the Nobel laureate in detention until after next year’s elections.

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan - An al Qaeda-linked Uzbek militant leader was killed in Pakistan in a U.S. drone missile strike in August, Pakistani intelligence agency officials said.