AFP - A suicide car bomb blew up Monday outside a US military base in eastern Afghanistan, killing nine civilian labourers, as the country marked Independence Day under the shadow of extremist attacks.

AP - An Air Force crew just off a supply mission to Afghanistan were boarding a cargo plane in Germany to go home when they were given new orders — deliver the first U.S. humanitarian aid supplies to war-torn Georgia.

AP - As of Friday, Aug. 15, 2008, at least 500 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Sunday at 10 a.m. EDT.

AP - If ever there was a sign of the limits of American military power, it was the scene of U.S. aircraft delivering blankets and medicine to a beleaguered Georgia under invasion by Russia tanks.

AFP - A US general Wednesday accused another general of bullying and having a "spray and pray" approach to detainees at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a US daily reported.

AFP - The US Air Force's new chiefs vowed Tuesday to restore "perfection" as the standard for the control of US nuclear forces, in the wake of a series of embarassing blunders that cost their predecessors their jobs.

AP - As of Monday, Aug. 11, 2008, at least 496 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Aug. 2 at 10 a.m. EDT.

AP - As of Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, at least 496 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Aug. 2 at 10 a.m. EDT.

AP - Ukraine warned Russia on Sunday it could bar Russian navy ships from returning to their base in the Crimea because of their deployment to Georgia's coast.

AFP - The Pentagon took a hands off approach to outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Georgia Friday, keeping tabs on US military trainers there and dusting off contingency plans should Americans need to be evacuated, Pentagon officials said.

AFP - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has endorsed a 17-billion dollar plan to double the size of the Afghan army over five years, the Pentagon said.