AFGHANISTAN

While S&P?s downgrade of the U.S. Government?s credit rating is controversial, most agree that the U.S. fiscal condition is serious. And while both Democrats and Republicans increased the budget deficit, three major policy errors by President George W. Bush last decade substantially worsened the U.S.?s fiscal condition, and the nation has been trying to recover ever since.

A Chinook helicopter was attacked in Afghanistan in the Sayd Abad district of the Wardak province killing 31 US forces, 25 of them being Navy Elite SEALs. The SEALs were part of Team Six, the unit that infiltrated and killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan several months ago.

Marking the deadliest incident in the decade-long war, a military helicopter was shot down by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan Saturday night, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops -- most of whom were Navy SEALS from "Team Six" - the unit that carried out the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, officials said.

The biggest threat to China's grip on its ethnically divided far western frontier comes from homegrown anger exploding in violence, not from Pakistan-based terrorists officials have blamed for the latest bloodshed.

A NATO helicopter crashed during a battle with the Taliban in Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. soldiers and 7 Afghans, the Afghan president said on Saturday, a devastating toll and easily the worst single incident for foreign troops in 10 years of war.

Insurgents in eastern Afghanistan shot down a NATO Chinook helicopter during an overnight operation killing 37 people on board, a military official said on Saturday.

"Harry has already completed his studies of Land and Sea Surveillance and Oceanology - part of Astro training - and can't wait to get into one of Nasa's T38 training jets," a royal source said.

President Barack Obama on proposed $120 million in new tax credits for businesses that hire U.S. veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan at a time of high unemployment at home.

The first episode of a "The Office" style mocumentary premier on Thursday night in Afghanistan.

Army officer Donna Bachler has not had a regular paycheck since she left active duty four years ago, even though she boasts the kind of skills employers vie for.

Britain and the United States poke fun at incompetent, arrogant middle managers in the television comedy "The Office," but in Afghanistan the target is a fictional minister of garbage in a new series called "The Ministry."

According to Amrullah Saleh, Afghanistan's former spy chief, Afghan spies had information four years ago that located Osama bin Laden close to where he was found hiding. However, then Pakistan president, Pervez Musharraf, refused to act on the detailed intelligence reports.

As the focus of modern warfare shifts from conventional military campaigns to clandestine, targeted strikes, the U.S. military has increasingly come to rely on covert operatives employed by U.S. Special Operations Command, according to a new report.

All told, 240 people were shot to death in July, making it the deadliest month in the city?s recorded history.

A Gallup poll revealed that American Muslims generally feel integrated into American culture and confident in its political institutions, challenging a perception that Muslims feel marginalized or detached from society.

The UK lawmakers are particularly concerned about the potential for more illegal immigration into Europe should Turkey join the EU, given the inadequate security it has along its borders with Iraq, Syria and Iran.

The military budget has not been spared in Congress' proposed debt deal bill.

The petit right wing terror and Islamic terror with extended networks have gained grounds in Western world for few years.

The man accused of planning an attack on Ft. Hood soldiers was in a motel room in Killeen this week with a 40-caliber handgun and bomb-making ingredients, authorities said. Abdo was charged Friday with possession of an unregistered destructive device and could face up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines if convicted.

The US solider charged with an attempt to stage an attack on Fort Hood Military base shouted out in court the name of the defendant in the 2009 shooting at the military camp that killed 13 soldiers. The US military leadership chose to ramp up hiring Muslim personnel in the hope of creating a more inclusive culture within the army, but recent events are casting a shadow over the success of this policy.

An AWOL Army Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo was charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device in a Texas court on Friday, and yelled out the name of Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan in court.