Iraqi soldier kills 2 U.S. soldiers first American deaths in Iraq since the U.S. combat mission officially ended last week

They are the first American deaths in Iraq since the U.S. combat mission officially ended last week.

An Iraqi soldier opened fire Tuesday on a group of U.S. soldiers in northern Iraq, killing two and wounding nine others, the U.S. military and the Iraqi military said. They are the first American deaths in Iraq since the U.S. combat mission officially ended last week. The attack occurred inside an Iraqi army commando compound when the soldier, clad in an Iraqi army uniform, fired on the U.S. soldiers near the Salaheddin province city of Tuz, the U.S. military said. The attacker was shot and killed. Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, a Defense Ministry spokesman, identified the shooter as Soran Rahman, from the Iraqi army's 4th Division. Al-Askari said Rahman got into a fight with U.S. soldiers, and then pulled his weapon and fired on them before he was shot dead. The spokesman said a joint U.S.-Iraqi investigation into the incident was under way.

The soldiers were part of a security element for a U.S. company commander who was meeting with members of Iraqi security forces at the compound. "This is a tragic and cowardly act, which I firmly believe was an isolated incident and is certainly not reflective of the Iraqi security forces" in Salaheddin, said Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo, commander, Task Force Marne. In a second attack in Salaheddin province, a U.S. soldier and a number of Iraqis were wounded when a convoy in central Tikrit was hit by grenades early Tuesday afternoon, a U.S. military spokesman said. Soldiers who were in the vehicle that was attacked killed the grenade thrower, he said. An Iraqi Interior Ministry official and police in Tikrit said that the man threw two grenades at the convoy, damaging a vehicle, and that U.S. forces then opened fire "randomly," killing a civilian and wounding four others.

But a spokesman for the U.S. military issued a statement disagreeing with that assessment, saying the U.S. military believes that the civilians' wounds were caused by the grenade that exploded and not from indiscriminate gunfire. He said a U.S. military investigation concluded that the civilians' wounds were caused by shrapnel and not from bullets. Two witnesses identified the body as that of the attacker, the spokesman said. More than 4,400 U.S. troops died in Iraq during the war. While violence has dropped in the last two years, President Barack Obama said last week that "violence will not end with our combat mission." "Extremists will continue to set off bombs, attack Iraqi civilians and try to spark sectarian strife. But ultimately, these terrorists will fail to achieve their goals," he said in a speech from the Oval Office on August 31. That's when he announced the end of the U.S. combat mission and the beginning of a new American phase in Iraq.

U.S. troops are expected to advise and assist Iraq's security forces, back Iraqi troops in counterterrorism missions and protect American civilians there during a transitional period. Unless the United States and Iraq forge a new agreement, all U.S. troops are scheduled to depart Iraq by the end of 2011.

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Posted in Iraq , news

UK cop caught assaulting woman on CCTV, jailed

A British judge on Tuesday sentenced a policeman who assaulted a 57-year-old woman by hurling her into a cell to six months in prison.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/uk-cop-caught-assaulting-woman-on-cctv-jailed-50377?cp

A British judge on Tuesday sentenced a policeman who assaulted a 57-year-old woman by hurling her into a cell to six months in prison. Sergeant Mark Andrews was caught on security cameras in 2008 dragging Pamela Somerville across the floor and shoving her into a cell at a police station in Melksham, western England. Afterwards, blood poured from a wound on her head.

Somerville was arrested after being found asleep in her car and refusing a breath test. Andrews was convicted earlier of assault. At Oxford Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, Deputy District Judge Peter Greenfield said Andrews was guilty of a presiding over "an atmosphere of bullying and intimidation." The Wiltshire Police force has apologised to Somerville. Assistant Chief Constable Patrick Geenty from the Wiltshire police called Andrews "a disgrace." Somerville told British broadcaster Sky of her ordeal. "When I was left there on my own, I thought 'my goodness, they are going to leave me to die," she said on Tuesday outside her home in Wiltshire. "I thought they must have mistaken me for somebody who had done a terrible crime," she added.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/uk-cop-caught-assaulting-woman-on-cctv-jailed-50377?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/uk-cop-caught-assaulting-woman-on-cctv-jailed-50377?cp

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Posted in news , UK

TV Patrol: Manila, Philippines Hostage Crisis August 23 2010.mp4

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Posted in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhXda5JtVXw

China Will Be Working On a Railroad For Iran

China's railways minister, Liu Zhijun, is expected to visit Tehran this week to finalize the plans.

China is about to sign a $2 billion deal to build a railway line for Iran, The Telegraph.co.uk. reports. This is the first step of a broader railway plan that will connect the Middle East and Central Asia to Beijing.  China has already built a railway line serving Tibet. China's railways minister, Liu Zhijun, is expected to visit Tehran this week to finalize the plans. "The final document of the contract has already been signed with a Chinese company and the Chinese minister will visit Iran on September 12 to ink the agreement," said Hamid Behbahani, the Iranian railway minister. Nicklas Swanstrom, the executive director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University, told The Telegraph that the contract to build the line was the first step for China to create an entire rail infrastructure for central Asia, allowing vital access to Iran's port of Chahbahar on the shores of the Persian Gulf, and could also eventually give China a vital overland freight route to Europe.

"For China, it could cut the cost of transporting goods to Europe," said Swanstrom. The route could eventually link Iran with Iraq and even Syria as part of a Middle Eastern corridor that would benefit the 5,000 Iranians who make pilgrimages each day to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq. "It also makes political sense, because while technically the U.S., Europe or Russia could block China's sea routes, it would also have a land route. And by tying your neighbor's infrastructure to you, it brings them closer," Swanstrom added. "It decreases Russia's influence in the region, and definitely decreases the influence of the U.S. and Europe."

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Posted in World News

US church defiant despite condemnation of Koran burning

Terry Jones said he had prayed over the matter but insisted the Koran-burning would go ahead

A small US church says it will defy international condemnation and go ahead with plans to burn copies of the Koran on the 9/11 anniversary. The top US commander in Afghanistan warned troops' lives would be in danger if the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida went ahead. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the church's plan was "disrespectful and disgraceful". Muslim countries and Nato have also hit out at the move. And the US Attorney General, Eric Holder, called the idea "idiotic and dangerous". But organiser, Pastor Terry Jones said: "We must send a clear message to the radical element of Islam." The controversy comes at a time when the US relationship with Islam is very much under scrutiny. There is heated debate in the country over a proposal to build a mosque and Islamic cultural centre streets from Ground Zero, site of the 9/11 attacks, in New York.

Speaking at a State Department dinner marking the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Hillary Clinton condemned Pastor Jones. "I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths," she said. Despite having a congregation of just 50, the plans of Pastor Jones' church in Gainesville have gained worldwide notoriety, sparking demonstrations in Afghanistan and Indonesia. Gen David Petraeus, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said on Monday that the action could cause problems "not just in Kabul, but everywhere in the world". "It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems," he said in a statement. The Vatican, the Obama administration and Nato have also expressed concern over the plan. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Tuesday that "any type of activity like that that puts our troops in harm's way would be a concern".

Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen blasted the plans, telling reporters that burning Korans violated the Nato alliance's "values". Pastor Jones - author of a book entitled Islam is of the Devil - has said he understands the general's concerns but that it was "time for America to quit apologizing for our actions and bowing to kings".

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Posted in USA News

Pakistan struggling to protect two towns from surging floods

Eight million people remain reliant on aid handouts to survive, six weeks after monsoons caused devastating floods in the country's worst disaster in living memory. 

River defences in Pakistan's flood-hit south were bolstered Tuesday in a bid to save two towns from catastrophic flooding as the UN warned the world community must help the militant-hit nation recover. Eight million people remain reliant on aid handouts to survive, six weeks after monsoons caused devastating floods in the country's worst disaster in living memory. Advancing floodwaters continue to threaten the towns of Johi and Dadu in Sindh province, with 19 of its 23 districts deluged and 2.8 million people displaced, according to provincial authorities. "Armed forces and irrigation officials are racing against time to save Johi and Dadu," said provincial irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo. "Floodwaters are increasing pressure on Johi embankment, while the raging waters are just five kilometres (three miles) away from Dadu city," Dharejo said.

He said residents had formed a human chain to help reinforce embankments securing the towns. "It is very heartening to us that local people are being very courageous and helping authorities, picking up stones to reinforce the embankments," he said. Dadu and Johi are about 320 kilometres north of the main southern port city of Karachi. Meanwhile, the UN's development chief for Asia said the world must respond to Pakistan's crisis and help it rebuild to secure hearts and minds in the insurgency-wracked nation. Helping Pakistanis rebuild homes and businesses, reduced to rubble by the unprecedented deluge, will be even more important to long-term regional and global stability, said UN Assistant Secretary General Ajay Chhibber.

"Now that the water has receded in large parts... what's clear from these visits is that the early recovery needs to start now," said Chhibber during a visit Monday to the militant-hit northwest. "If there's greater unrest in Pakistan it will have much greater regional and global implications. "This is a country that is a very large, very important country in the region, a very large, very important country in the globe, so that battle for the hearts and minds of people here is very important." Global cash pledges have been slow coming to bolster rescue and relief efforts, with more than 21 million people affected by the floods. As Chhibber toured part of Nowshera town flattened by surging waters last month, one villager, Amanat Khan, stood helplessly next to a pile of broken bricks and wood that was his home until the floods smashed it to pieces. "We're completely paralysed with shock," said the 42-year-old father of four, who also lost his job in a medical store to the waters.

"I trust in God Almighty he will help me but right now I have no idea how to rebuild my life." In Nowshera half a million people have been affected and more than 40,000 homes suffered some damage, along with 151 schools and 22 health centres. The town is in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 19 people were killed Monday in the latest suicide bombing in the militant-plagued province. Last week the UN said, that despite an improvement in aid donations after a visit to Pakistan by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in mid-August, extra pledges had "almost stalled" since a week earlier. An initial relief appeal has been about two-thirds funded, and Chhibber said a second appeal would be launched on September 17, seeking help for the next steps in Pakistan's recovery. Hollywood star Angelina Jolie arrived in northwest Pakistan Tuesday with the UN's refugee agency to draw world attention to the crisis. Jolie, the 34-year-old actress and roving envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, visited communities where 1.7 million Afghan refugees live.

"From what I understand the situation is on a scale that we have not really seen the likes of. It's on a huge scale," Jolie told reporters at a camp for the displaced. The floods have ruined 3.6 million hectares (8.9 million acres) of rich farmland, and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation said farmers urgently needed seeds to plant for next year's crops. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has warned that the country faces inflation of up to 20 percent and slower growth because of the disaster. The floods have killed 1,760 people but disaster officials have said the number of deaths is likely to rise "significantly" when the missing are accounted for.

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Posted in Pakistan News

Katrina Kaif Photos: Promotion of Pantene Shampoo

Katrina Kaif becomes brand ambassador of Pantene. Hot looking Katrina Kaif promoted new range of Pantene Shampoo in Mumbai at Taj Land End at Bandra through campaign "You Try You Decide". Katrina Kaif shared her beauty secret with media about how she manages to keep her hair shining and healthy.

Here is the Katrina Kaif photoshoot of promoting Pantene Shampoo @ Taj Land End at Bandra, Mumbai.

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Posted in Beautiful Katrina Kaif Pics Gallery , Katrina Kaif , Katrina Kaif Photo Gallery

Malaika Arora Khan Hot Photos, Malaika Arora Khan Wallpapers, Images

Dabangg movie song Munni Badnam song become a hot one for the fans of Malaika Arora Khan. In the movie Dabangg movie hot looking Malaika Arora Khan comes with an item song with Salman Khan. Chemistry works with good effect. Malaika Arora Khan is a wife of Salman's younger brother Arbaaz Khan. Malaika Arora Khan is a good looking bollywood star and worked in many movies as well. Malaika Arora Khan was part of many item number songs. Malaika Arora Khan is really looks very hot in the Dabangg movie song Munni Badnam. Here are few hot photos of Malaika Arora Khan, Wallpapers, Images.

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Posted in Bollywood Actress Wallpapers , Malaika Arora Khan