There has been a sensational twist in the Sanjay Dutt- Shakeel Noorani dispute. According to Times Now, Sanjay Dutt's lawyer Rizwan Merchant has claimed that the actor received extortion threats from the underworld in 2005. Rizwan hinted that these extortion calls were made at the behest of producer Shakeel Noorani, who has sued Sanjay Dutt for dumping his 2002 film Jaan Ki Baazi. Read more:

Ricky Ponting will be reviewing his future with Australian cricket after the team lost the fourth Ashes Test by an innings and 157 runs here Wednesday, with England retaining the urn.
After Australia lost another chance to win back the Ashes, Ponting was gracious and forthcoming after the defeat that saw England taking a 2-1 lead in the series with one more match to go.
'I've got to make the decision that I feel is right for Australian cricket right at the moment ... As a player and a captain I still think I've got a lot to offer the Australian cricket team, but I've got to sit down and obviously think about that at the end of this game,' ABC radio quoted Ponting as saying.  Read this
Swift Energy Company (NYSE:SFY) announced today that it has executed definitive agreements with certain subsidiaries of Origin Energy Limited (“Origin Energy”) to sell certain of Swift Energy’s New Zealand assets for a minimum of $87.8 million effective December 1, 2007, representing the major portion of the assets held. Additional agreements for the sale of the remainder of Swift Energy’s New Zealand assets are being negotiated and are anticipated to be in place in early 2008.  Read more on

A Belgian priest and prominent Third World development activist has admitted he sexually abused a minor 40 years ago, according to the director of the development aid organization he founded.

The case of Francois Houtart came to light after the victim's sister came forward in reaction to a campaign to nominate the priest for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Bernard Duterme, director of Cetri, says Houtart resigned from the organization's board in November

Houtart, who is currently in Ecuador, didn't immediately respond to phone calls and e-mail Wednesday, but in an interview with Belgian newspaper Le Soir, Houtart is quoted as saying he twice touched "the intimate parts" of a boy he describes as his cousin 40 years ago. He calls the incident "inconsiderate and irresponsible."  More info

This year is by far the deadliest for the coalition in the nearly decade-long war, as tens of thousands of additional international troops have poured into the country in an effort to suppress a virulent Taliban insurgency. But while NATO and the United States note progress has been made in the militants' traditional strongholds in the south, they acknowledge gains made remain precarious.

Security has also deteriorated in the north, while many parts of eastern Afghanistan, along the border with Pakistan, remain violent and under militant control. NATO forces often engage in heavy fighting there. More More.