6 NATO members killed in Afghanistan

6 NATO members killed in Afghanistan

kabul

A bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday killed six NATO service members, on a day where a total of 29 people died from roadside bombs and insurgent attacks.

NATO said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device but provided no further details about the attack and did not identify the dead service members. The statement said NATO’s policy is to allow “national authorities” to give details about the soldiers.

Aid for Afghanistan

tokyo

The Obama administration will ask Congress to sustain U.S. assistance for Afghanistan near the average amount it has been over the last decade through 2017 as part of the international effort to stabilize the country even as most international forces pull out over the next two years.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made the pledge Sunday as some 70 countries gathered in Tokyo to announce a four-year civilian assistance plan. Altogether they are promising to give $16 billion to Afghanistan through 2015.

Action in Egypt

dateline

Egypt’s Islamist president fired the first volley Sunday in his battle with the nation’s powerful generals, calling on the Islamist-dominated parliament to reconvene despite a military-backed court ruling that dissolved it.

A week into his presidency, the surprise move by Mohammed Morsi threatened to plunge the country into a new bout of instability and violence, nearly 17 months after the ouster of authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.

Associated Press