Attack brings year's death toll to 5,400
Associated Press Nov 13, 08 8:09 AM CST
(AP)
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A suicide car bomber struck a US military convoy passing through a crowded livestock market in eastern Afghanistan today, killing an American soldier and at least eight civilians and wounding an additional 74 civilians. Yesterday, two British troops were also killed when their vehicle was struck by an explosive while they were on a patrol with Afghan security forces in southern Afghanistan.
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Five members of a ceremonial unit test positive
Times (UK) Aug 26, 08 12:57 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Five soldiers from the Queen of England's ceremonial guard unit have been fired after testing positive for Class A drugs, reports the Times of London. A failed test is virtually a guaranteed career-ender in the British Army, and only a slim 0.8% of personnel have tested positive in the last 3 years. The three men and two women were in the Royal Horse Artillery, which represents the army during state events.
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Servicewoman dies
in bomb attack
on convoy
Guardian (UK) Jun 18, 08 6:32 AM CDT
(Newser)
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An attack on a British military convoy in Afghanistan killed four troops, including the first British female soldier to die since the conflict began. The soldiers died in an explosion in Helmand province, Afghanistan's most volatile region, reports the Guardian . British Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed his "deepest condolences" and admitted that the situation in Afghanistan has become "grim."
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Iraqi proudly murdered 17-year-old over her crush on British solider
Guardian (UK) May 11, 08 11:11 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Iraqi father who suffocated and stabbed his 17-year-old daughter has only one regret over her honor killing: That he didn't murder her "the instant her mother delivered her." "Speaking with a foreign solider, she lost what is the most precious thing for any woman," Abdel-Qader Ali tells the Guardian .
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Military defends
'royal heir farce'
BBC Apr 20, 08 5:50 AM CDT
(Newser)
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British officials have defended allowing Prince William to land a military helicopter on a field next to the home of his girlfriend’s family after the media blasted it as “ridiculous and inappropriate,” the BBC reports. “This was a routine training sortie"—and no one entered or exited the chopper, said the Ministry of Defense. Wills' girlfriend Kate Middleton and her parents watched the landing from their home.
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Fighting in Baghad kills 12, wounds 130
Reuters Apr 19, 08 9:11 AM CDT
(Newser)
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In a major new clash, Iraqi troops backed by American and British firepower today captured a stronghold of fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Basra, said Iraqi officials. In a show of force, American planes and British artillery attacked a deserted area outside the Sadr-controlled section of Hayaniya before Iraqi troops moved into the neighborhood and seized the center, Reuters reports.
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Record compensation for teen shot by dropped rifle
Guardian (UK) Apr 15, 08 5:48 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Britain's Ministry of Defense has agreed to pay $4 million in compensation to an Iraqi boy accidentally shot by a British soldier, the Guardian reports. The boy, now 17, is paralyzed from severe spinal injuries inflicted when the soldier dropped his rifle at a Basra base in 2003. He is receiving round-the-clock care in Britain and will never be able to return to Iraq.
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GOP candidate talks Iraq, global warming, with British PM
Guardian (UK) Mar 20, 08 10:00 AM CDT
(Newser)
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John McCain began his visit to Europe in London today, where he met with PM Gordon Brown and praised him as a "very strong leader," the Guardian reports. McCain and Brown discussed Iraq, the global economy, and climate change, but when asked about British plans to withdraw troops from Iraq, the presumptive GOP nominee declined to give his opinion.
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PM irked that some personnel advised not to wear uniform off base
Daily Telegraph (UK) Mar 7, 08 5:34 PM CST
(Newser)
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After reports that officers in Britain's Royal Air Force advised members against wearing uniforms in public, Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged troops to show their colors, the Telegraph reports—and chastised citizens for the verbal abuse that prompted the guidelines. Brown said troops should “have the respect and gratitude of the British people” and police should work to stop any abuse.
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Army planning emergency exit
for soldier prince
Times (UK) Feb 29, 08 5:38 AM CST
(Newser)
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Britain's defense ministry is setting up emergency plans to withdraw Prince Harry from his battalion in Afghanistan after yesterday's news leak that he had been stationed there. He has completed 10 weeks of what was supposed to be a four-month tour of duty in Helmand Province, reports the Times of London. The defense ministry lifted its media embargo on coverage of Harry's service after the Drudge Report, the German tabloid Bild and an Australian women's magazine reported the story.
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More women planning for kids should husbands die in combat
Guardian (UK) Feb 17, 08 7:35 PM CST
(Newser)
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More UK military wives are freezing their husbands' sperm before the men serve in the Middle East. One London fertility clinic expected interest from soldiers but was surprised by the "wives and girlfriends who want to have children should anything happen," a spokesman said. But servicemen must give consent before sperm storage, experts say, due to the high divorce rate among soldiers.
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Bombing comes amid 'failed state' warnings
Times (UK) Jan 31, 08 8:04 AM CST
(Newser)
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A suicide bomber in Afghanistan killed six people, including the deputy governor of the dangerous Helmand province, in an attack inside a mosque today. At least 11 others were injured in the explosion in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, a focus of reconstruction programs led by the British army, reports the Times of London.
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Strategic, unstable region to test strength of Baghdad government
Reuters Dec 16, 07 6:16 AM CST
(Newser)
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Ending five years of British control in southern Iraq, the UK today handed over authority for the wealthy, populous Basra region to the Iraqi government. Residents greeted the handover with jubilation, but the responsibility for Basra—strategically located, an oil export hub and home of Iraq's only port—will prove a tough test for the Baghdad government, Reuters reports.
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Brown to announce major revision of Afghan strategy, rankling Washington
Independent (UK) Dec 12, 07 8:13 AM CST
(Newser)
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Just back from Kabul, Gordon Brown is poised to announce a major strategic revision in Afghanistan that will involve dialogue with the Taliban. Senior British officials believe that treating the loose-knit organization as a unified terrorist actor is counterproductive, the Independent reports, and they want to move from fighting militants to talking to them. But the new strategy might cause tension between the UK and Washington hawks.
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Shipment of roadside bombs intercepted at border fuels suspicions
Daily Telegraph (UK) Oct 4, 07 11:50 AM CDT
(Newser)
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NATO and the British military claim Iran is supplying Afghanistan's Taliban with the same equipment for explosive devices that it provides to Iraqi insurgents, the Telegraph writes. US Gen. Dan McNeill, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, said his forces discovered 50 roadside bombs and timers crossing the Iran-Afghanistan border in trucks last month; Iran denied the charges.
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