War Glance
At least 50 people have been killed in a suicide bombing in a Pakistani tribal village on the border with Afghanistan, officials said. At least 100 people were wounded in the explosion in Yakaghund village in the Mohmand tribal region.
The bomber came on a motorbike and blew himself up near the gate of the local administrator's office, witnesses said. Mohmand is part of Pakistan's tribal regions where the Taliban and al-Qaeda have a strong presence.
Suicide attack in Pakistan tribal village kills dozens
Afghan Companies Say U.S. Middlemen Failed to Pay Big Bills for Work
A number of Afghan construction companies working on contracts for American and NATO military bases in Afghanistan have accused American middlemen of reneging on payments for supplies and services, and in one case of leaving the country owing Afghan companies hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars.
The failure of American companies to pay for contracted work has left hundreds of Afghan workers unpaid in southern Afghanistan, and dozens of factories and small businesses so deep in debt that Afghan and foreign officials fear the fallout will undermine the United States-led counterinsurgency effort to win the support of the Afghan people.
War zone drone crashes add up
The U.S. military often portrays its drone aircraft as high-tech marvels that can be operated seamlessly from thousands of miles away. But Pentagon accident reports reveal that the pilotless aircraft suffer from frequent system failures, computer glitches and human error.
Design and system problems were never fully addressed in the haste to push the fragile plane into combat over Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks more than eight years ago. Air Force investigators continue to cite pilot mistakes, coordination snafus, software failures, outdated technology and inadequate flight manuals.
US TEMPORARILY Cuts Aid After Millions Siphoned Off to Dubai
Brigadier General Mohammed Asid Jabarkhel tells Der Spiegel "Of course I know what's going on here." He is referring to the huge amounts of money regularly being secreted out of Afghanistan by plane in boxes and suitcases. According to some estimates, since 2007, at least $3 billion (€2.4 billion) in cash has left the country in this way.
The preferred destination for these funds is Dubai, the tax haven in the Persian Gulf. And, given the fact that Afghanistan's total GDP amounts to the equivalent of $13.5 billion, there is no way that the funds involved in this exodus are merely the proceeds of legal business transactions.
Blasts mar Biden's call for new gov't, unity
Vice President Joe Biden urged rival Iraqi politicians Sunday to end months of delays and select new leaders for their wobbly democracy, predicting a peaceful transition of power even as suicide bombers struck government centers in two major cities.
The attacks in Mosul and Ramadi underscored persistent fears that insurgents will exploit Iraq's political uncertainty to stoke widespread sectarian violence. Four people were killed and 25 injured in the two blasts that occurred hundreds of miles apart.
Straw's warning to Blair on Iraq war: Conflict 'could cause long-term damage to Forces'
Tony Blair was warned of 'long-term damage' to the Armed Forces unless Britain slashed its commitment to the Iraq war, a secret document has revealed.
On the eve of the 2003 invasion, foreign secretary Jack Straw and defence secretary Geoff Hoon told Mr Blair the UK had to cut force numbers by two-thirds by that autumn.
U.S. Fails to Complete, or Cuts Back, Iraqi Projects
After two devastating battles between American forces and Sunni insurgents in 2004, this city needed almost everything — new roads, clean water, electricity, health care.
The American reconstruction authorities decided, however, that the first big rebuilding project to win hearts and minds would be a citywide sewage treatment system.
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