In one of the most serious war crimes cases to emerge from the nine-year war in Afghanistan, five U.S. soldiers from a Stryker brigade in the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division have been charged with murder for allegedly killing three Afghan civilians.
While they were on patrol, the soldiers threw grenades at two of the Afghans and shot them, according to charging documents. The third civilian also was shot, and anyone who dared to report the events was threatened with violence, according to statements made to investigators.
U.S. soldiers face murder charges in death of Afghan civilians
BP frozen out of Arctic oil drilling race
BP has been forced to abandon hopes of drilling in the Arctic, currently the centre of a new oil rush due to its tarnished reputation following the Gulf of Mexico spill.
The company confirmed tonight that it was no longer trying to win an exploration licence in Greenland, despite earlier reports of its interest. "We are not participating in the bid round," said a spokesman at BP's London headquarters who declined to discuss its reasons for the reverse.
The Indian tribe that took on a mining giant – and won
They said they considered the mountain their god, a living deity that provided them with everything they required to sustain their lives. They said they would fight to the death before seeing the pristine mountain destroyed. Remarkably, they won their battle.
Last night, the tribal people of the Niyamgiri Hills in eastern India were celebrating after the authorities in Delhi ruled that a British-based company would not be permitted to mine there for bauxite.
Artificial corneas restore sight for the first time
Artificial corneas grown in the laboratory have been transplanted into patient's eyes for the first time in an operation that offers hope to millions of partially sighted people. Scientists hope the breakthrough will also slash the cornea transplant waiting list which every year falls short by more than 500 in Britain alone.
The new technique involves growing human tissue or collagen in the laboratory and then shaping it using a contact lens mould. Damaged and scarred tissue from the front of the eye is then removed and the "biosynthetic" replacement is stitched in its place.
BP tells U.S. panel Halliburton should have warned of well hazard
BP this week is taking public its strategy for spreading the blame for the April 20 explosion that killed 11 people on the Deepwater Horizon and led to the nation's worst oil spill.
In a new twist in the case, BP has declared that Halliburton, which had warned that the cement job on the Macondo well might not function properly, should have stopped the operation outright. If Halliburton knew the cement process was unsafe, it had an obligation to refuse to proceed - and to do otherwise would be, BP said in a statement, "morally repugnant."
U.S. Weighs Expanded Strikes in Yemen
U.S. officials believe al Qaeda in Yemen is now collaborating more closely with allies in Pakistan and Somalia to plot attacks against the U.S., spurring the prospect that the administration will mount a more intense targeted killing program in Yemen.
Such a move would give the Central Intelligence Agency a far larger role in what has until now been mainly a secret U.S. military campaign against militant targets in Yemen and across the Horn of Africa. It would likely be modeled after the CIA's covert drone campaign in Pakistan.
How the IRA's 'bomber priest' escaped justice: Cover-up agreed by police, ministers and Catholic Church
Father James Chesney was the 'prime suspect' after nine people, including an eight-year-old girl, were killed and 30 injured when three car bombs exploded in the quiet Northern Ireland village of Claudy in July 1972.
The police chief wrote a letter which began an official cover-up, enabling the suspected terrorist to evade justice and move across the border to the Irish Republic, where he died from cancer eight years later at the age of 46.
World Vision, Christian Humanitarian Organization, Wins Right To Hire, Fire Based On Religion
World Vision, the Christian humanitarian organization, can fire employees who disagree with its theological tenets, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday (Aug. 23). In a 2-1 decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that World Vision is a "religious corporation" and therefore exempt from a federal law that bars faith-based discrimination.
"I am satisfied that World Vision has met its burden of showing that the 'general picture' of the organization is 'primarily religious,"' wrote Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain. "World Vision is a nonprofit organization whose humanitarian relief efforts flow from a profound sense of religious mission."'
Defense official discloses cyberattack
Now it is official: The most significant breach of U.S. military computers was caused by a flash drive inserted into a U.S. military laptop on a post in the Middle East in 2008.
In an article to be published Wednesday discussing the Pentagon's cyberstrategy, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III says malicious code placed on the drive by a foreign intelligence agency uploaded itself onto a network run by the U.S. military's Central Command.
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