London, Sep 24: The US said today that an additional 14,000 troops could soon be deployed in Afghanistan, signaling the biggest military reinforcement in the country since the war began.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee that up to three combat brigades, each including about 3,500 soldiers, could be sent to Afghanistan by mid-2009.

They would bolster an additional 3,700 ground troops recently promised by President Bush for January, The Times reported.

Gates warned, however, that a troop “surge” could be counter-productive in a country with a historic resistance to outsiders.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left on Tuesday for a 10-day visit to the United States and France. After a procedural halt at Frankfurt, he is scheduled to leave for New York on Tuesday for the 63rd session of the United National General Assembly (UNGA). 

This will be his second address to the UN General Assembly, on Friday. He missed out the UNGA in 2006 and 2007. 

Washington, Sept 24 : A US Senate panel has reportedly cleared the Indo-US Nuke deal with an overwhelming 19-2 vote. This has been described as a key hurdle cleared in the US ahead of the finalization of the deal, much awaited in India as the US goes to Presidential poll in November.

The brief hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday included just one amendment. A proposal by Sen. Russ Feingold, Wisconsin Democrat, to toughen restrictions on selling India the technology to reprocess nuclear fuel was defeated on a 15-4 vote.

Islamabad, Sept 24 : If Pakistan intelligence officials are to be believed, the country’s security forces shot down a suspected US military drone close to the Afghan border last night. If true, it would be the first US pilot-less aircraft brought down by Pakistan.

The aircraft was reportedly hit at the village of Jalal Khel in South Waziristan after it made several rounds of the area for several hours. Wreckage was strewn on the ground, said the Pakistan intelligence sources.

New York - Investment banking firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc gained the potentially influential support of legendary investor Warren Buffett late Tuesday.

The announcement that Buffett's firm, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, would buy a 5-billion-dollar stake in Goldman Sachs comes as the investment banking firm is converting itself to a normal bank holding company, a decision reached this week to obtain greater access to loans from the US Federal Reserve. The conversion will place Goldman Sachs under greater government scrutiny.

Washington - The Federal Bureau of Investigation is examining possible criminal activity at 26 companies including recent bailout recipients Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and American International Group Inc (AIG), according to media reports.

Major investment bank Lehman Brothers, which declared bankruptcy last week, is also on the list of firms in the FBI's probe of accounting and other possible irregularities, the Bloomberg financial news agency reported late Tuesday, citing a senior law enforcement official.