Syria warned to implement peace plan

Bashar al-Assad has been warned to implement a UN-backed peace plan to end more than a year of violence in Syria, amid growing scepticism at the lack of international resolve to tackle the bloodiest crisis of the Arab spring.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, issued the threat at a conference of the Friends of the Syrian people in Istanbul on Sunday, but there was little evidence of coherent international action if he does not comply.

Syria announced last week that it had accepted a six-point plan being promoted by the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, though Assad then demanded that the "armed terrorist groups" he says are supported by an Arab-western "conspiracy" disarm first. According to the UN, 9,000 people have been killed in Syria over the last year.

Read full story in The Guardian

Bulgarian troops deploy to Afghanistan

Bulgaria will send on Thursday its 21st contingent to Afghanistan.

The new unit will participate in an ISAF mission in Kabul. A total of 90% of the contingent's 165 soldiers have already participated in missions. The contingent includes 13 women and will be commanded by Svetoslav Godinov, company commander of the Bulgarian 38th Infantry Battalion.

Currently, a total of 600 Bulgarian soldiers and medical staff are currently stationed in Afghanistan in Kabul and Kandahar.

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Afghanistan: Wounded Czech soldier airlifted home

Prague, July 7 (CTK) - A military plane flew the Czech soldier who was seriously injured in Afghanistan on Wednesday to Prague Thursday evening, general staff spokeswoman Jana Ruzickova told CTK Thursday.

His condition is still very serious, Ruzickova said, adding that along with him, another two soldiers slightly injured at the end of June returned for convalescence to the Czech Republic.

A team of doctors and medical personnel was on board the Airbus A-319, Ruzickova said.

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Germany brings charges against Frankfurt Airport shooter

Germany has brought charges against the man accused of murdering two US servicemen en route to Afghanistan in broad daylight at Frankfurt Airport in March. Prosecutors declined to charged him with terrorism.

German authorities have indicted a man accused of shooting two US airmen at Frankfurt International Airport in March. Arid U., who is of Kosovar background, was accused of killing US servicemen Nicholas Alden and Zachary Cuddeback.

The 21-year old was also charged with three counts of attempted murder, for trying to kill three others before his gun jammed.

He faces life imprisonment. 

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US Marine awarded Silver Star for bravery in Afghanistan

On Monday, on a U.S. ship in the Gulf of Aden, one of the Marines from that deployment received a Silver Star for combat bravery. Sgt. Franklin M. Simmons, 28, was awarded the Marines' third-highest medal for bravery for actions on Aug. 8, 2008, while acting as a team leader for the Force Reconnaissance Platoon of the 2/7.

While on a patrol in the village of Shewan in Farah province, Simmons' platoon was attacked by "intense rocket-propelled grenade and machinegun fire," according to the Silver Star citation.

Read full story at the LA Times

Nigeria: Taliban kill 25 in beer garden bombings

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria - Men riding motorcycles threw bombs into outdoor beer gardens Sunday night in northeastern Nigeria, killing at least 25 people in attacks bearing striking similarities to others carried out by a radical Islamic sect in the region, police said.

The bombs exploded in the restive city of Maiduguri, home to the sect known locally as Boko Haram. While the sect did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack late Sunday, the assault bore the hallmarks of the group now waging assassinations and attacks against the Nigerian government.

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Afghanistan: 60 dead in hospital bombing

A HUGE car bombing at a hospital killed 60 and wounded 120 in Afghanistan today, days after US President Barack Obama said 10,000 US forces would leave the country this year.


The brazen suicide attack in Logar province, just south of the capital Kabul, killed women and children and was described as "unprecedented" in the history of the near-decade-long Afghan war by officials.

Brit soldier in court for punching an escaping Taliban prisoner

A British soldier faces a court martial next month - for punching an escaping Taliban prisoner. 

The corporal, who cannot be named, was sent home and charged with assault after preventing the man from escaping. He has since quit the Army in disgust.

The Afghan rebel had been captured during an ambush on British forces last March - and is reported to have no interest in the trial.

A military insider called the case "disgusting" and "madness".

Patrick Mercer, a Tory MP and former Army commander, added: "We have to stop abusing our soldiers in this way."

Source: The Sun

Helicopter crash injures 6 in eastern Afghanistan

ASSADABAD, Afghanistan, 15th June: A helicopter crashed in Kunar province 185 km east of capital city Kabul on Wednesday, an official said.

"The chopper crashed in Mandapul, a suburban area of provincial capital Assadabad, at around 10 a.m. local time today. As a result, four foreigners and two Afghans were injured," spokesman for provincial administration, Wasifullah Wasifi, told Xinhua.

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Services held for fallen police officer, Brett Benton

Visitation services were held Tuesday for a Kentucky police officer killed in Afghanistan. Mourners gathered Tuesday afternoon at First Christian Church in Richmond to honor Brett Benton.

Benton, a Madison County native, was recently killed by an explosive device while on a civilian mission in Afghanistan. He had just left the Kenton County Police Department and had only been in Afghanistan for 23 days as a private contractor training Afghan police officers, when he was killed.

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