US Marines surge in Afghanistan to begin next week

Tuesday, December 08, 2009 WASHINGTON: The members of a 1,500-strong contingent of US Marines will begin arriving in southern Afghanistan next week as part of the first elements of President Barack Obama’s troop build-up of 30,000 troops, officers said.The United States hopes the 7,000 additional troops promised by NATO allies will arrive in Afghanistan by the first half of 2010.The new commitments are expected to swell the ranks of foreign troops in Afghanistan next year to 150,000, some two thirds of them US forces.Apart from the 1,500 Marines heading to southern Helmand province this month, another 6,200 Marines from Camp Lejeune were due to deploy in the ‘early spring’ next year and 800 Marines based in California would head to Afghanistan at the same time, the Pentagon said.The US Army also was mobilizing troops, with 3,400 from the 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum in New York state ordered to head out in the spring to focus on training Afghan security forces.About 4,100 support troops, which include medics and bomb disposal teams, also were ordered to deploy between now and the spring of 2010.

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India's swine flu death rate is increasing

Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...

Tennis: Clijsters wins US Open, second time

NEW YORK: Kim Clijsters of Belgium won the US Open on Sunday by defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 7-5, 6-3 in the final.She is the first mother to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong in 1980, the victory coming just five weeks after she returned to the sport following a 27-month retirement. She was the first wildcard, man or woman, to win a US Open title in the history of the tournament.

42 killed in wave of Iraq bombings

BAGHDAD: At least 42 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded in a spate of bomb attacks near the restive northern Iraqi city of Mosul and in the capital Baghdad on Monday, police said. In the deadliest single attack, two booby-trapped lorries exploded before dawn in the village of Khaznah, east of Mosul, leaving 25 people dead and 70 others wounded. Thirty-five houses were destroyed in the village, which is home to members of the tiny Shabak community, a sect of Kurdish origin. In Baghdad, two car bombs went off as day labourers were gathering in the early morning hours looking for jobs.The first bomb exploded at Hay al-Amel, in the west of the capital, killing nine people and injuring 46. The second bomb attack in Shurta Arbaa in the north of the city killed seven people and wounded 35 others.

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