US consulate workers killed in Mexico
The drug wars in Mexico took an ominous turn over the weekend when a US consulate employee and her husband were killed as they left a children’s birthday party in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico’s most violent city. Only minutes earlier gunmen also killed the Mexican husband of another member of the consular staff and wounded his [...]
Kansas City to close 26 schools. Unprecedented move in US?
It’s the end of the road for nearly half the schools in Kansas City, Mo. – a district that has struggled for decades to integrate and boost achievement amid plummeting enrollments.
The board of education voted 5 to 4 Wednesday to close 26 schools and several other sites, including its headquarters. The consolidation will also involve [...]
US denies Israel settlement move violates moratorium
The US has said Israel’s authorisation of new building in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank does not violate a recently announced moratorium.
But a state department spokesman said it was “the kind of thing that both sides need to be cautious of”.
Israel has promised a 10-month pause in settlement building in the West Bank, [...]
Heavy winter storms wreak havoc in US Northeast
NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) – A record-breaking winter storm slammed New York and much of the U.S. Northeast on Friday, forcing businesses, schools and transportation systems to shut down as nearly two feet (60 cm) of snow fell in the city.
Commuters struggled in the absence of suburban train and bus services into New York [...]
US toll in Afghanistan war reaches 1000
The icasualties.org website, which tracks military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, said 54 US soldiers had died in the war so far this year, as the coalition tries to regain momentum in its eight-year campaign.
It was the worst toll for two consecutive months since the US-led invasion of 2001 and compared with a toll of [...]
US, Canada advance to final game in women’s hockey
The final game in women’s Olympic hockey is no surprise: The Canadians and the Americans were the best teams going in, and they’ve earned the right to go out together with one game for gold.
A few hours after Monique Lamoureux scored three goals in the Americans’ 9-1 victory over Sweden on Monday, Meghan Agosta set [...]
US Special Operations Ordered Deadly Afghan Strike
KABUL—U.S. Special Operations Forces ordered an airstrike that killed at least 27 civilians in southern Afghanistan and the soldiers may not have satisfied rules of engagement designed to avoid the killing of innocents, Afghan and coalition officials said Monday.
The airstrike Sunday hit a group of minibuses in a remote part of the south near the [...]
Report builds Iran sanctions case: US
WASHINGTON — The United States said Friday that a UN report stating that Iran may be working on a nuclear warhead bolstered the case for tougher sanctions on the Islamic republic.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters that the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “underscores the ongoing questions and concerns that we [...]
US Marines Airdropped Into Taliban-Held Territory
Elite Marine recon teams were dropped behind Taliban lines by helicopter Friday as the U.S.-led force stepped up operations to break resistance in the besieged insurgent stronghold of Marjah.
About two dozen Marines were inserted before dawn into an area where skilled Taliban marksmen are known to operate, an officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity [...]
US envoy visits Pakistan after Taliban capture
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – The White House’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan held talks with government leaders in Islamabad on Thursday, days after the capture of the Afghan Taliban’s No.2 in Pakistan.
World
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was picked up in the southern city of Karachi this month in a raid by Pakistani and U.S. agents, the [...]