Afghan officials: Too early to judge vote

Afghan officials: Too early to judge vote

KABUL

Afghan authorities said Monday it was too early to judge the validity of the country’s parliamentary ballot despite observers’ reports of widespread fraud in the vote that was to help consolidate its shaky democracy.

Also Monday, Britain’s military handed the U.S. responsibility for a dangerous district in southern Afghanistan that has been the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting involving British troops for the past four years.

Military contractor under investigation

WASHINGTON

Ignoring calls to scrutinize troubled contractors, the U.S. military has awarded a portion of a $490 million contract to an American corporation that’s under investigation for possible fraud.

The Army Corps of Engineers awarded the contract to Louis Berger Group, a New Jersey-based company that federal prosecutors have acknowledged is being investigated for reportedly overbilling the U.S. government.

The contract will be shared with Cummins Power Generation and is for providing generators, building power plants and installing high-voltage transmission systems in “conflict and disaster-response locations worldwide,” according to a news release posted last week on Louis Berger’s website.

Officers kill shooter at Fort Bliss store

FORT BLISS, Texas

A person opened fire Monday at a small grocery store on Fort Bliss, injuring two people before being killed by responding officers, the commander of the West Texas Army post said.

Col. Joseph A. Simonelli Jr. declined to discuss the conditions of the victims or other details of the Monday afternoon shooting. Simonelli said the area was roped off for an FBI investigation, but the sprawling facility next to El Paso never was under lockdown.

Big political summit set in North Korea

SEOUL, South Korea

North Korea will have its biggest political meeting in 30 years next week, state media said today, as observers watch for signs that the secretive regime’s aging leader will appoint his son to succeed him.

Now 68 and reportedly in poor health two years after suffering a stroke, Kim Jong Il is believed to be setting in motion a plan to tap a son to take the Kim dynasty into a third generation by appointing his heir to top party posts at the Workers’ Party convention.

Arrest warrant issued for Lohan

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.

A judge issued an arrest warrant Monday for Lindsay Lohan after the actress acknowledged failing a drug test less than a month after she was released from inpatient rehab.

Superior Court Judge Elden Fox also revoked Lohan’s probation in her 3-year-old drug case while issuing the bench warrant in Beverly Hills.

However, the warrant was stayed, and Lohan was allowed to remain free pending a hearing Friday to determine if she violated her probation.

Igor kicks up surf on eastern US coast

HAMILTON, Bermuda

Hurricane Igor kicked up dangerous surf along the eastern U.S. seaboard Monday after brushing past Bermuda and knocking out power to half the population.

The storm, already blamed for sweeping three people to their deaths, clung to hurricane status with winds of 75 mph as it sped away from the United States on a path projected to take it close by Newfoundland, Canada, today.

Combined dispatches