Islamabad - At least 10 Taliban militants and one civilian were killed Thursday as Pakistani army helicopter gunships and artillery pounded militant positions in the country's north-western Swat valley, officials said.

"Our forces targeted insurgent locations in Sarsinai and Kotlai villages of Kabal sub-district," said an senior army official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Ten miscreants were killed and one was injured. We destroyed their one weapons depot but there was no loss on our side," he added.

Baghdad - Iraq will sign a long-term security agreement with the US only if the latter agrees to compromise on Iraqi-proposed amendments, the al-Sabah newspaper said Thursday.

The Iraqi government had handed the US embassy in Baghdad an amended draft on Tuesday, although both parties had agreed in mid- October that the last draft was final.

The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) would extend the mandate of US forces in Iraq beyond the end of this year, when the UN authorization runs out.

Istanbul - Isolating Iran and Syria is a misguided strategy, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday during an opening speech at the World Economic Forum in Istanbul.

"Dialogue between countries in the region is better than pressure from outside," he said.

Though his speech did not name the United States specifically, his comments were considered to be aimed directly as US policy.

New York - Eastman Kodak Company, fighting for years to keep head above water in the digital age, Thursday warned that revenues and earnings would fall for the year, necessitating more job cuts.

Revenues fell 5 per cent to 2.41 billion dollars. Earnings climbed in the third quarter to 96 million dollars from 37 million dollars in the same period last year, less than analysts had expected.

San Salvador, El Salvador - Spain's King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero condemned Thursday a car bomb attack allegedly perpetrated by the Basque separatist group ETA that injured 17 people in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona.

In their opening speeches at the Iberian American Summit being held in San Salvador, the monarch stressed his best wishes for the recovery of the injured, while Zapatero rejected the "blind, criminal, fanatical violence which ETA has once again tried to carry out."

New York - Legendary pop-rock pioneers The Beatles are finally moving to the digital age.

The Fab Four have licensed their entire catalog of music to be used in a video game made by the companies behind the popular game Rock Band, in which players earn points for accompanying the band, it was announced Thursday.

The game will mark the first time that the Beatles have sanctioned the use of their music in new media. Their songs are not even available over iTunes. The deal was struck after 17 months of negotiation and was supported by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as the widows of George Harrison and John Lennon.