Afghanistan

IANS/New Delhi

India has been ranked as low as 84 among 180 countries on the integrity score, continuing to be perceived as a highly corrupt nation in the world, by global corruption watchdog Transparency International in its latest survey.

The ranking means that 83 other countries are less corrupt than India.

“India’s integrity score stands at 3.4 on a scale of 0 (perceived as highly corrupt) to 10 (least corrupt),” according to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2009 prepared by the Berlin-based Transparency International, an independent organisation tracking prevalence of corruption worldwide.

India’s integrity score last year was the same. In 2007, its score was a notch better at 3.5, says the survey.

Soldier mom refuses deployment to care for baby

RUSS BYNUM, AP Military Writer Russ Bynum, Ap Military Writer – Mon Nov 16, 9:32 pm ET
SAVANNAH, Ga. – An Army cook and single mom may face criminal charges after she skipped her deployment flight to Afghanistan because, she said, no one was available to care for her infant son while she was overseas.

Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, claims she had no choice but to refuse deployment orders because the only family she had to care for her 10-month-old son — her mother — was overwhelmed by the task, already caring for three other relatives with health problems.

http://news.yahoo.co...

Go Kiwi!

War-torn nations remain the world's most corrupt, Transparency International (TI) has said.

Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia are the lowest-ranked countries in TI's annual global survey. They were all at the bottom of the list last year as well.

"When essential institutions are weak or non-existent, corruption spirals out of control," TI said.

New Zealand was the least corrupt, with last year's winner Denmark as runner-up and Singapore third.

http://news.bbc.co.u...

http://news.bbc.co.u...

Obama defends abuse photos U-turn

The release of more photos of prisoner abuse by US soldiers is "of no benefit" and may inflame opinion against the US, President Barack Obama has said.

The pictures were not "sensational" and every case of abuse had been dealt with by the military, with action taken where appropriate, he said.

The White House previously said it would not fight a court ruling ordering the release of the pictures.

US civil liberties activists accused Mr Obama of adopting Bush-era policies.

The pictures were due to be released by 28 May, according to the court order.

A suspected suicide car bomber struck a congested traffic circle outside Peshawar Tuesday, killing at least 20 and wounded 50 others, police and hospital officials said.

The blast happened in Charsadda, which is located about 18 miles (29 km) north of Peshawar.

The attack happened just as Charsadda District Police Chief Mohammed Riaz Khan was leaving the area, and Khan told CNN he believes his convoy was the target of the attack.

The impact of the blast destroyed several nearby buildings and vehicles, Khan said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, was forced to apologise to the mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan after he spelt her son’s name wrong in a letter of condolence.
As reported by the Daily Mail the Prime Minister telephoned Jacqui Janes yesterday after learning of her distress over the handwritten letter, sent after her son Jamie, 20, of the 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards, was killed by an explosion on October 5.

A suicide bomber detonated explosives at a police checkpoint in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar on Monday, killing at least three people, police said.

The victims were a police officer, a civilian and the driver of the rickshaw that the suicide bomber was riding, said Peshawar police official Kiramat Hussain.

At least five others were wounded in the attack on the well-known Ring Road, Hussain said.

In recent days, Peshawar -- the capital of the North West Frontier Province -- has come under increasingly frequent attacks.

On Sunday, a suicide car bomber killed 12 people, including an area mayor.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which injured at least 36 people on the outskirts of Peshawar.

I don't work in military intelligence and I am not a police man but I think there were signs this man was probably not the most suitable guy to have in your army and was a bit unstable.... that's my guess but like I said I'm not an expert and this might just be normal behaviour for an Army Doctor...

Fort Hood gunman had told US military colleagues that infidels should have their throats cut.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the gunman who killed 13 at America's Fort Hood military base, once gave a lecture to other doctors in which he said non-believers should be beheaded and have boiling oil poured down their throats.

7th Nov- "A NATO airstrike has killed at least seven members of the Afghan security forces in the western province of Badghis on Friday"

6th Nov-"The NATO-led force in Afghanistan issued a statement on Friday saying that that two of its troops went missing on Wednesday while on a routine supply mission".

4th Nov - 'A "rogue" policeman from Afghanistan has shot down and killed five British soldiers in the Helmand province of South Afghanistan today'

As word spread that a gunman had opened fire at Fort Hood leaving a trail of carnage, a chilling realization swept across the U.S. Muslim community: He has an Islamic name.

From a professor who just testified in Congress, to a White House adviser appearing before a Jewish group and a former Marine driving home from work, Muslims across the country were shocked, angry and afraid that the attack would erode efforts to erase anti-Islamic stereotypes.

Many Islamic leaders said the Fort Hood tragedy that left 13 dead and 30 wounded including the alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, could likely post the sternest test for U.S. Muslims since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.