The Associated Press is distributing a photo of a Marine fatally wounded in battle, choosing after a period of reflection to make public an image that conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it. Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard, 21, of New Portland, Maine, was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in a Taliban ambush Aug. 14 in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan. The image shows fellow Marines helping Bernard after he suffered severe leg injuries. He was evacuated to a field hospital where he died on the operating table.

A federal appeals court has ruled that former Attorney General John Ashcroft can be sued by people who claim they were wrongfully detained as material witnesses after 9/11, and called the government practice "repugnant to the Constitution." A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals ruled Friday that the claims of a former University of Idaho student plausibly suggest Ashcroft purposely used the material witness statute to detain suspects whom he wished to investigate and detain preventively. "We find this to be repugnant to the Constitution and a painful reminder of some of the most ignominious chapters of our national history," Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. wrote.

Cracks are appearing in administration ranks as Taliban attacks, civilian casualties, allegations of fraudulent elections and plummeting US public support raise questions about what Obama insists is a "necessary war". ..Joseph Biden, the vice-president, has expressed public doubts about a new US military build-up in Afghanistan, mainly on the grounds that it might destabilise Pakistan, whose nuclear arsenal makes it a more pressing US concern.....On the liberal wing of the Democratic party, Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin has been horrified by suggestions of a new troop build-up and last week called for a "flexible timetable" to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan...Yet how far is Obama willing to go in pursuit of an enemy that has claimed the lives of 739 American troops since the invasion of 2001 and killed 51 in August alone, the highest monthly toll to date? The British toll stands at 212, including 22 in July....The president has not been short of advice. George Will, a conservative columnist, raised eyebrows last week when he joined liberal Democrats in urging Obama to pull out of Afghanistan immediately and instead fight a long-range war... Others pointed out that former President Bill Clinton attempted long-range policing of Afghanistan in the 1990s and the result was the emergence of Al-Qaeda and the attacks of September 11, 2001. ".. ..The Los Angeles Times reported last week that noncombat units might be replaced by civilian contractors, boosting US firepower in the region while enabling Obama to side-step a public outcry. Yet that idea was undermined when a bizarre scandal erupted over contractors employed to guard the US embassy in Kabul. Instead of looking out for Taliban bombers, it was alleged, they were participating in drunken sex parties....F.It can scarcely have been a consolation to Obama that the most prominent voices urging him on were the Republicans who started the war.

European foreign ministers have criticized the 'catastrophic' Friday bombing of north Afghanistan, which left 90 people, including many civilians, killed. During an unofficial meeting in Sweden on Saturday, foreign ministers from different European Union nations censured NATO's lethal attack on two fuel tankers, believed to have taken over by Taliban militants in Qonduz province, in which 90 people including dozens of civilians lost their lives. Euronews, citing German media outlets, reported that Germany's press blame their government for the attack as it ordered US fighter jets to run the operation. ..Also in the meeting, Britain admitted the recent fatal airstrike would endanger the future of peace-keeping mission and called for new strategies to combat militancy.



ARQN/DT

A whistle-blower who helped shed light on misconduct among the ranks of contractors working as guards for the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan is back home in England sooner than he expected after he resigned in the fallout of the scandal.....Terry Pearson, who worked as an operations manager for contractor R.A. International at Camp Sullivan in Afghanistan, said he witnessed mistreatment among the guards employed by ArmorGroup North America, who were housed at the camp....Allegations surfaced last week that contractor ArmorGroup allowed mistreatment, sexual activity and intimidation within the ranks of private guards hired to protect the embassy in Kabul. The company and U.S. officials are investigating. Wackenhut Services Inc., the corporate parent of ArmorGroup, said in an e-mail it is "fully cooperating" in the investigation. Fourteen guards were fired and the entire management team for ArmorGroup in Kabul was to be replaced, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said....The scandal came to light last week when the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and briefed reporters on its findings, which it said were based on e-mails and interviews with more than a dozen guards who have worked at the U.S. compound in Kabul. Speaking with CNN at his hometown of Liverpool, England, Pearson said that given a chance to go back, he would have taken the same stance. "Dignity at work and respect at work is more important than having a job yourself," he said.

The European Union has called on Israel to scrap plans to build new settlements in the West Bank, saying the settlements are 'illegal'. The EU foreign ministers in a meeting in Stockholm on Saturday called on Israel to halt expansion of its settlements. The Swedish presidency of the EU strongly criticized Israel over its refusal to heed international concerns regarding the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Europe had "very strong support for the American approach, notably regarding the settlements. They're illegal; they are an impediment to the peace process." ...Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will consider a construction moratorium "for a few months" as demanded by Washington only after the green light is given to build hundreds of new homes in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.

British researchers have discovered the explanation behind how the consumption of green vegetables such as broccoli improves heart health. According to a study published in Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, Sulforaphane -- a compound naturally found in broccoli and other green vegetables -- can boost the body's natural defense, protecting arteries from clogging. Sulforaphane switches on a protective protein known as the Nrf2, which is inactive in arteries vulnerable to clogging and atherosclerosis, the main underlying cause of heart attacks and many heart diseases. Scientists concluded that broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower are a good source of a protein which protects arteries from disease.