Munich, Germany  - US authorities are to extradite Ukrainian- born John Demjanjuk to Germany next week to answer charges that he helped put at least 29,000 Jews to death at a Nazi death camp, a German newspaper said Wednesday.

Demjanjuk would arrive on Monday in Munich, where a warrant was issued three weeks ago for his arrest, the newspaper Abendzeitung said, quoting the accused's German lawyer, Guenther Maull.

A German Justice Ministry spokeswoman in Berlin said, "We can neither confirm nor deny this."

Washington  - The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating and the country's Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgency are gaining strength, the top US commander for the region warned Wednesday as the US prepares to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan.

General David Petraeus, head of US Central Command, said in congressional testimony that insurgents had expanded their control over the southern and eastern parts of the country but vowed they would be fought "aggressively and relentlessly" by US forces.

Gaza City/Cairo  - As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally took office at the helm of a government dominated by hardline parties on Wednesday, delegates from 13 Palestinian factions resumed talks on forming a "national unity" government in Cairo.

In this, the third round of Egyptian-brokered Palestinian talks, negotiators will try to hash out the political platform of the national unity government, lay out preparations for presidential and legislative elections and determine the composition and control of Palestinian security forces, representatives from Fatah and Hamas said.

Munich  - Meeting in Munich, 18 special envoys concerned with Afghanistan and Pakistan vowed Wednesday to step up cooperation and focus on the success of free elections this year in Afghanistan.

Germany hosted the consultations in the Bavarian city, the first meeting of the Afghanistan and Pakistan Support Group.

In a statement, the German Foreign Ministry said Berlin would coordinate the panel in future.

London - US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev moved to open a new chapter in relations between their two nations Wednesday by agreeing to draw up a new deal on nuclear disarmament.

Following a meeting in London ahead of Thursday's summit of Group of 20 (G20) leading world economies, both presidents pledged to "move further along the path of reducing and limiting strategic offensive arms," in a joint statement issued after their first meeting since Obama's inauguration.