Five NATO troops killed in Afghanistan bomb attack

A bomb attack on Thursday killed five NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, the main battleground with the Taliban, the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

"Five International Security Assistance Force service members died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan today," an ISAF statement said, without giving any further details in line with policy.

Single bomb attacks killing as many as five foreign soldiers are relatively infrequent in Afghanistan. An ISAF spokesman declined to give further details when questioned by AFP.
The deaths come a week after the Taliban shot down a US helicopter, killing 30 Americans in the biggest single loss of US life in the 10-year war.

At least 387 coalition soldiers have now been killed in Afghanistan so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on that kept by independent website icasualties.org.

That compares to a total of 711 deaths for the whole of last year.

Southern Afghanistan has seen the worst fighting since the 2001 US-led invasion brought down the Taliban regime, sparking an increasingly deadly insurgency against foreign troops and the Afghan government.

The area is the Taliban's heartland and was the focus of a US troop surge from 2010 which commanders say has made significant progress against the insurgents.

However, the Taliban still frequently target foreign forces with crudely-assembled improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which frequently strike troops on foot patrol or travelling in armoured vehicles.

From April to June of this year, 3,485 IEDs exploded or were found in Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon's Joint IED Defeat Organisation (JIEDDO) -- a 14 percent increase over the same period last year.

Big Brother house revealed

The doors of the Big Brother mansion have been opened for the very first time and it's so luxurious inside we wouldn't mind bedding down for a kip there ourselves.

Channel 5 has revealed the house, which is located at Elstree Studios, is bigger than ever before and includes a bold and bright living room complete with designer lighting, uber-modern furniture and a spiral staircase.



The likes of Jedward, Kerry Katona and Tara Reid - who are all tipped to be this year's contestants - can kick back and relax in the sumptuous spa bathroom and swap stories while lying in their plush beds in the communal bedroom.

There's even a swimming pool - with a cool little foot-bridge, we must add - his and hers sinks (we can see Jedward LOVING them) and some funky loungers for the stars to recline in.

The stars' new home from home also houses a state-of-the-art gym so they can stay in tip-top shape while in the house, a sauna, PLUS an alfresco dining area in the huge garden.

And if that's not enough to entice the stars into the house, then perhaps reports that a VERY hot and single male contestant is going in (look out Amy Childs/Tara Reid), will attract their attention.



Details of this year's Diary Room chair will be revealed at the official launch for the show on Monday.

Celebrity Big Brother begins on Thursday, August 18 at 9pm on Channel 5.

Israel okays 1,600 E. Jerusalem settler homes

Israel's interior minister has given final approval for the construction of 1,600 new settler homes in east Jerusalem, and will approve 2,700 more shortly, his spokesman told AFP on Thursday.

The move is likely to anger both the Palestinians and the international community, as it struggles to find a way to relaunch peace talks in a bid to head off a Palestinian plan to seek United Nations membership.

Spokesman Roei Lachmanovich said Interior Minister Eli Yishai had given final approval for the construction of 1,600 units in the Ramat Shlomo neighbourhood in northern east Jerusalem.

"He has approved 1,600 homes in Ramat Shlomo and will approve 2,000 more in Givat Hamatos and 700 in Pisgat Zeev," Lachmanovich said, referring to two additional Jewish neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem.

The 1,600-house construction in Ramat Shlomo has already caused a diplomatic rift between Israel and Washington.

Yishai's interior ministry first announced the project in March 2010, as US Vice President Joe Biden visited Israel and the Palestinian territories to lay the groundwork for new direct peace talks between the two sides.

The announcement was criticised by Washington, leaving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu red-faced as he sat down for talks with Biden and prompting a mini-crisis in ties between the allies.

But Lachmanovich said the final approvals were "economic" not political, linking Yishai's decision to demonstrations over housing prices and the cost of living that have rocked Israel in recent weeks.

"These are being approved because of the economic crisis here in Israel, they are looking for a place to build in Jerusalem, and these will help," he said.

"This is nothing political, it's just economic."

Last week, the interior ministry issued a similar final green-light to the construction of 900 new homes in the east Jerusalem settlement neighbourhood of Har Homa, which lies in the southwest of the city, neighbouring Bethlehem.

Yishai, a member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, also linked that construction project to the protest movement, saying it would help address the "real estate crisis."

Israeli news site Ynet quoted him as saying he had directed his staff to promote the construction of small housing units in the settlement neighbourhood "in an effort to enable all Israeli citizens to purchase an apartment."

The approval of that project was swiftly condemned by much of the international community, including the United States and the European Union.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War, annexing it later in a move never recognised by most of the international community.

It claims both sides of the Holy City as its "eternal, indivisible" capital, and does not view
construction in the east to be settlement activity.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "profoundly disappointed" by Har Homa announcement, and that its timing was particularly regrettable.

The EU is working with other members of the international peacemaking Quartet, which also includes the United States, United Nations and Russia, to draft a new framework for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Quartet members are hoping that the potential relaunch of negotiations could sway the Palestinians to drop their bid to seek UN membership for a Palestinian state this September.
But the Palestinians have said they will not return to the negotiating table without a halt to Israeli settlement construction and a clear framework for talks.

And they insist their UN bid is not incompatible with new negotiations and they have no plans to drop the bid, even if talks resume.

Syrian forces kill 17 in Homs

Syrian security forces have shot dead 17 people in a protest hub, activists said, while Western nations ramped up calls for action after a "chilling" UN Security Council briefing.

After a defiant President Bashar al-Assad pledged early this week to pursue a relentless battle against "terrorist groups," activists said Wednesday that regime forces shot dead 17 people in the city of Homs, wounding another 20.

"Some bodies are lying in the sun and people cannot remove them because of the shooting," an activist said in a telephone interview from the central city.

An AFP correspondent on a government-sponsored tour confirmed reports of a military pullout from the flashpoint west-central city of Hama, but there were signs elsewhere of an intensifying crackdown by Assad's regime.

Rights activist Rami Abdel Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops were conducting a vast operation in the northwestern town of Sermin, where a woman was killed.

Explosions and heavy gunfire also echoed in the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor and residents were fearing a new military operation in the city where the army killed 42 people on Sunday and 17 on Tuesday, said Abdel Rahman.

Western nations, meanwhile, stepped up demands for UN measures against Assad after a top UN official told the Security Council how the Syrian leader had ignored calls for an end to bloodshed in his country.

But Security Council battlelines were drawn when Russia's UN envoy said calls for sanctions did not help end the Syria crisis in which rights groups say more than 2,000 civilians have now died.
UN Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco briefed the 15-member Security Council behind closed doors about events in Syria in the week since the council called for an "immediate" halt to the violence.

Taranco was quoted as saying there had been no letup in the deaths of protesters -- with at least 87 people killed across the country on Tuesday alone -- while UN officials had met Syrian diplomats to try to get accurate information.

Syrian security forces cut power and communications to protest towns targeted by operations, he added. Taranco spoke of reports of summary executions and soldiers defecting because of a shoot-to-kill policy, diplomats said.

In a bid to keep Syria high on the Security Council agenda, Western nations pressed for a new report next week with briefings from the top UN human rights and humanitarian officials.
Western envoys said the Security Council would have to consider "further action" if events did not improve by the next report.

Taranco's briefing had been "depressing and chilling," Britain's deputy UN ambassador Philip Parham told reporters.

Assad was said to have admitted his security forces had made "some mistakes" in battling protests, as he met with several UN Security Council members in Damascus.

The deputy foreign ministers from the three emerging powers of Brazil, India and South Africa met Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem to call for an "immediate end to all violence" in Syria, a statement said.

Assad "acknowledged that some mistakes had been made by the security forces in the initial stages of the unrest and that efforts were underway to prevent their recurrence," said the statement released by India's UN mission.

At the UN, US ambassador Susan Rice took an increasingly tough line on a day in which Washington imposed sanctions on Syria's largest commercial lender, Commercial Bank of Syria, and largest mobile phone operator, Syriatel.

Assad has met "calls for change with cruelty and contempt," she told the meeting. Thousands of innocent people had been "killed in cold blood" and "Assad has breached the most basic rules of diplomacy by sending thugs to attack diplomatic missions."

Rice said the United States and Europe were bringing "greater pressure to bear on the Syrian regime through further coordinated diplomatic and financial measures."

But Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said US calls for sanctions were not helpful, and instead urged "restraint, reform and dialogue."

Troops backed by tanks stormed Hama on July 31, the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, to fight "armed groups," killing 100 people in the single bloodiest day since the crackdown began, activists say.

The bloodshed triggered a deluge of international condemnation and prompted the Security Council, under pressure from European and US leaders, to issue a statement demanding an end to the violence.

Since then, three Arab countries, including heavyweight Saudi Arabia, have recalled their ambassadors to Damascus for consultations as more Arab voices rose to condemn Syria over its crackdown.

Steadily escalating US rhetoric against Assad, including a warning that he is now a source of regional instability, has fueled expectations that President Barack Obama's administration will soon formally call for him to go.

But Washington again stopped short of explicitly calling for Assad to leave power, but said it would help his people achieve "dignity and freedom."

The White House stuck with a rhetorical formulation toward Syria adopted last week, saying the country would be a "better place" without Assad and that he had lost legitimacy.

Rafa crashes out in Montreal

Rafael Nadal crashed out of the Montreal Masters in his opening match on Wednesday in a shock defeat at the hands of Croatia's Ivan Dodig.

Nadal now has more work to do to regain the world number one ranking from Novak Djokovic, who shook off a slow start to beat Nikolay Davydenko and continue his winning ways.

Dodig, ranked 41st in the world, fired 19 aces in a 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5) victory over Nadal, who took to the court with a sinus infection but still ran away with the first set.

"Honestly, I didn't feel I played bad... but I can't say I played well. In the decisive moments, I didn't play well, that's the truth," the Spanish world number two said.

Dodig used his big serve to mount a comeback and eventually to give himself a chance of victory when he fired down a 135 mile an hour (217 kilometre an hour) ace to take a 6-5 lead in the third-set tiebreaker.

He took the match on the next point with a backhand that Nadal could not return.
"This is the biggest win of my career, of my life," said an excited Dodig.

"I enjoyed it so much. I was fighting hard for every point. In the end I managed, I'm really happy."

Nadal said Dodig's go-for-broke play and his own lack of recent matches contributed to the defeat.

"He played very well, very aggressive," Nadal said.

"He didn't feel the pressure in the important moments."

Nadal had his chances, leading 3-1 in the second set and 3-0 in the third. He also served for the match at 5-3 in the final set but was unable to close it out.

Djokovic, who reached the third round with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Davydenko, has now won 49 of the 50 matches he has played this season.

He rose to number one in the world in the wake of his Wimbledon triumph, ending Nadal's 56-week reign atop the rankings.

Djokovic, a winner in Montreal in 2007, broke Davydenko seven times in a match originally scheduled for Tuesday but pushed back a day by rain.

Third seed Roger Federer began his hardcourt run to the US Open with a clinical 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Canadian wildcard Vasek Pospisil.

The Swiss was playing his first ATP match since his Wimbledon quarter-final loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

And the win set up a re-match with the Frenchman, who advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/1) victory over Australian Bernard Tomic.

Federer said he was looking forward to facing Tsonga again and the contest was wide open.

"At Wimbledon it was really a matter of our serves and forehands. It was a matter of a couple of points," he said.

Tsonga said he is taking nothing for granted as he meets his rival for the second time in six weeks.

"He's still the best player ever for me and it's still tough to play against him," Tsonga said.

Federer is vying for a third Canadian title, after winning in 2004 and 2006.

He said it was always a relief to get past a local favorite such as Pospisil.

"It was tough conditions, it was quick and he had good crowd support," Federer said.
"He had nothing to lose. It was a tricky match for me to play today."

French fifth seed Gael Monfils advanced, defeating Alex Bogomolov 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) and 10th-seeded Richard Gasquet earned another win for France, defeating Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-1, 6-4.

Seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych also progressed, rallying for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov, while eighth-seeded Nicolas Almagro beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).

Taliban says fighters who downed US chopper alive

The Taliban insisted Thursday that the fighters who shot down a US helicopter, killing 38 troops in Afghanistan, were still alive, despite a US announcement that they had been killed.

US General John Allen, commander of the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan, said Wednesday that those responsible for the biggest single loss of American life in the 10-year war had been killed in an air strike.

But Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP: "This is not true. After seeing the enemy statement, we contacted the mujahed (fighter) who shot down the helicopter and he's not dead. He's busy conducting jihad elsewhere in the country."

Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, Mujahid said four "ordinary" Taliban fighters had been killed in the US air strike but that they had not been the ones who shot down the helicopter.

He also said the fighter responsible had since left Wardak province, where the crash took place in the restive district of Sayd Abad.

The Taliban is known to exaggerate and distort its public statements as part of a propaganda campaign accompanying its 10-year campaign to evict the US-led troops who ousted it from power in the 2001 invasion.

Thirty US troops, including 25 members of the elite special forces, were killed with seven Afghan commandos and an interpreter in the crash last week.

It was the deadliest single incident for the US-led force in the decade-long Afghanistan war.
Citing intelligence, a senior Afghan official told AFP on condition of anonymity this week that the helicopter was brought down in a Taliban trap designed to lure international forces to the scene.
Allen said the Chinook had been sent in as part of an operation targeting a Taliban leader, who is still at large.

"The intelligence that had been generated to this point led us to believe there was an enemy network in the Tangi Valley in the Wardak province, and the purpose of this mission was to go after the leadership of that network," the general said.

When "less than 10" insurgent fighters were seen "escaping," the Chinook helicopter was ordered in to head them off, he said.

The CH-47 was then shot out of the sky with a rocket-propelled grenade, killing all 38 people on board.

Afterwards, US forces tracked the insurgents responsible, calling in an air strike late Monday with an F-16 fighter.

The insurgents were traced over the weekend to a wooded area elsewhere in Wardak "after an exhaustive manhunt" by special forces, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

The air strike killed the "shooter" as well as a Taliban militant, Mullah Mohibullah, as they "were attempting to flee the country in order to avoid capture," ISAF said.

Australia beat Sri Lanka in 1st ODI

Mitchell Johnson grabbed a career-best 6-31 and Shane Watson smashed a brisk 69 to guide Australia to a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first one-dayer on Wednesday.

Opener Watson cracked six sixes and five fours in his 51-ball knock as Australia achieved a 192-run target with more than 11 overs to spare for a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Left-arm fast bowler Johnson played a key role in restricting Sri Lanka to a modest total, marking his 100th one-day international with disciplined bowling to bag his third haul of five or more wickets.

Watson then kept pressure on Sri Lanka with an exciting strokeplay, reaching his 24th half-century in one-dayers with a six off unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis.

He dominated a 59-run stand for the opening wicket with Brad Haddin (12) before falling in the 12th over, but had put his team in a strong position at that stage. He also completed 4,000 runs in one-dayers during his knock.

Skipper Michael Clarke (53 not out) then added 101 for the third wicket with Ricky Ponting (53) to steer his team home.

"The wicket was fantastic. It was dry but held together better than I expected," said Clarke.

"It is important that I lead from the front and it is great having Ponting at number three with all that experience at the other end."

Australian paceman Brett Lee earlier became the seventh bowler to take 350 wickets in one-dayers when he dismissed Nuwan Kulasekara (34) for his lone victim of the innings.

Sri Lanka were struggling at 117-7 following Johnson's four-wicket burst in his opening spell before lower-order batsmen Suraj Randiv, who hit one six and four fours in his 41, and Kulasekara put on 60 runs for the eighth wicket.

Man-of-the-match Johnson ended Sri Lanka's resistance when he had Randiv -- the home side's highest scorer -- caught in the deep and then bowled Ajantha Mendis in his ninth over.

"This was not a 190 wicket. We did not bat well and our shot selection was not good. I think our spinners bowled well, but they did not have runs to defend," said Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Sri Lanka got off to a solid start after winning the toss when Upul Tharanga (34) and Dilshan (29) put on 54 for the opening wicket before Australia struck back.

Tharanga, returning to the side after serving a three-month drugs ban, looked in good touch as he fluently drove Lee for two successive fours in the opening over.

Sri Lanka's slide began with the dismissal of Tharanga, who was bowled by left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty while attempting to cut after hitting seven fours in his 28-ball knock.

Johnson struck in his first over when he had Mahela Jayawardene caught behind and then had Kumar Sangakkara caught in the covers. He also accounted for Jeevan Mendis and Angelo Mathews in his opening seven-over spell.